After all of the signings are complete (I am hoping we can get both Ruiz and Virant to sign), it would be interesting to see how we ranked against the other teams. I guess my philosophy is that the success of the draft should be measured on a comparative basis. We might have killed it and added a lot of great young talent to the system, but if all the other teams did the same and had equally good drafts, then we don't necessarily improve when compared to everyone else. Conversely, if we had a "weak" draft, if the other teams had worse drafts, then we still improve our farm system as a whole. I just don't want to look at the Astros' draft in a vacuum. Sure it is great to add young talented kids like Correa, McCullers, (hopefully) Ruiz, and (hopefully) Virant, as well as others, but what does that exactly mean in the whole scheme of things? It's hard enough to follow just the Astros' draft (a big thanks to tellitlikeitis and others here), but hopefully we had a better draft than most of the other teams. I guess the front office's first goal should be to have a better draft than at least the other AL West teams for the next few years, as the Rangers, Mariners, and A's have pretty nice farm systems at the moment.
Oscar Henriquez is the one guy on that list that really stands out. Those other guys were either established stars or up and coming starters. Oscar Henriquez was a bullpen guy.
for all we know, they may have protected Halama instead of him. Wouldn't surprise me if that's what happened
It was indicated that Correa would've likely gone #7 if the Astros had taken Appel. All other teams 2-6 had their players pegged before Correa. $4.8mil is slotted for slightly less than 3rd pick money. Correa almost certainly made MORE money by taking a severely under-slotted 1st pick deal than what he would've made had the Astros taken Appel. At the very least, it was move that would've only backfired if he had been a #2 pick or #3 pick, then taken their slotted deals with that team. Unlikely to say the least. The MLB draft signings is a hell of a lot more complicated than NBA drafts. And you can't look at things on the surface. I can't speak for others, but if it were my son, I'd better get a ton of money before I'd have him skip out on college. Skipping college is a gamble on life. Because if you fail, you basically become someone in his mid-20s without any higher education and almost no future earnings potential. And I can assure you that HS prospects disappearing in the minors are very much abundant, and somewhat screwed when they do. Going to college at least ensure a college degree. And the risk/reward goes both ways. It is possible that after 3-4 years, he can get more money. And college players take less time to advance to the majors, so this isn't like the NBA where each year not drafted delays future FA another year.
The Astros shouldn't just have more high potential talent than other teams, they should have quite a bit more than an average team. The Astros had the 2nd most amount of money to spend. Almost double what an average team had. When you have almost twice the money, you should have almost twice the overall talent haul. Although by all indications, the Astros did that. Now it's just a matter of these prospects actually developing.
Who says he can't go back to school after a few years in the minors? If he were my son, I take the money and if it's clear he can't cut it by the age of 25, then I tell him to go back to school. Ideally I'd have him go to community college or do online courses to get his core classes out of the way while he's still playing, so if he ever does go back to school, he'd only need 2 years of school to get his degree.
Aren't minor league teams usually in small towns? Do they have community colleges there? Also, you get scholarships if you attend college immediately, while you have to actually pay if you go after you've failed in the minors. I don't know how much colleges cost these days, but depending on how much the scholarship covers, it should be quite a bit of money that should be factored. Overall, unless I think the kid can't really improve and want a cash grab, or the family is in bad financial situation and need money now, there really is no need to rush things.
Many high school players that get drafted have a clause negotiated into their contracts that the team that drafted them will pay their college tuition. When Ross Seaton signed with the Astros after the 2008 draft (bypassing his scholarship to Tulane) he had that particular clause put in. So if Seaton doesn't pan out, the Astros will pay his way through college. Lance McCullers Jr. had the same clause put into his contract as well. It comes down if you want the college life vs. playing ball right away. In come cases it does back fire. Look at Karsten Whitson, he was drafted 10th overall and chose to turn down two million dollars, his college career hasn't been all that spectacular and now with the draft slotting, there's a good chance he'll not see an offer for as much.
You know there is no age limit on college right? My wife 25 and starting her nursing program this fall. You also know that unless you really have your heart set on going to an out of state college, or a private college, that it isn't very expensive, and can often times be free. Say he decides to go pro. He struggles through 4 years in the minors. Now he is 22. I'm pretty sure he can go ahead and still live the college experience.
Minor league teams are in reasonably sized towns. All can go to school online and most areas have a community college. Astros affiliates: Corpus Christi - Yes; OKC - Yes; Lancaster - Yes; Lexington; Lexington - Yes; Kissimmee(GCL team) - Yes; Greeneville - Yes; Tri-City - The stadium in on a community college campus, so Yes. In-state public school? About $750 - $5,000/semester. The other big cost is room & board which is roughly $1,000 - $2,500/semester (I'm going based on what it costs in state of Georgia). Given current tax law, state scholarship programs, & the Pell Grant, the actual cost ends up being much less.
The Ruiz situation is all about money. He has indicated in the past he would sign under the right circumstances. He is from a working class family with protective parents trying to set his future up for him. The Astros will pay for his future college, and if he fails at baseball he can get the college experience at 21-22 by playing college football.
Huh? Players don't typically live in the towns they play in unless it's during the season at home games. They go home during the fall and train. Take 4 courses each fall/offseason and there's still plenty of time to train. Do that for 4 years and you have your basic courses taken care of. There's also the online option.
It doesn't take much of a signing bonus to pay your way through college (at any age). Given that we're talking values in the range of $1 million here, that's enough to pay for tuition, room, and board for a full doctorate degree, ha. Also, 4 year college degrees don't have the value they once did. You're barely better off with a 4 year degree than you are with your HS diploma.
We had the best draft of any organization if both Ruiz and Virant sign. Probably still the #1 draft class if just Ruiz does.
@keithlaw: Hearing Astros will sign fifth-rounder Rio Ruiz for $1.85 million. Scouting report for Insiders: http://t.co/Sd8MxkkA
So if college guys get slot, then we're already over the slot total by ~200K? I guess thats it, then...
