But why wouldn't the Cubs just wait till he goes back in the draft next year and possibly get him for the slot without having to give up a player of value (presuming the Astros aren't forced to sign and then trade him... which is almost just as ridiculous as the whole UCL thing was to begin with). The Aikens have zero leverage right now... even though the Astros seemed to be "panicking" by raising their offer at the last second, its almost as if they knew that this MLB discretion thing could come back and work in their favor.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>astros are working on resolution with nix, not aiken, it turns out. <a href="http://t.co/0OckIkgnsF">http://t.co/0OckIkgnsF</a></p>— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/statuses/504735670687244288">August 27, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I haven't seen anything that's backed this article yet. I'm not inclined to believe it much either because there's also multiple errors in it. Getting Jacob Nix's name wrong is sloppy but not knowing he's ineligible for college ball because of Casey Close's involvement tells me the guy doesn't know the rules very well.
Christ....................... <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>If Selig was talking about Nix instead of Aiken resolving with Astros it was a pretty big mistake by Bud. Clearly asked about Aiken...</p>— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) <a href="https://twitter.com/jjcoop36/statuses/504810830664597504">August 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Well, I don't really know what this means But if there is a way for Nix to come to a "resolution/agreement", and it doesn't cost us a pick (or picks)....then that's better than where we are right now, no?
[rQUOTEr]There has been little progress in talks involving the Astros and coveted fifth-round draft choice Jacob Nix, a hard-throwing pitcher from California, and the dispute is likely heading to a grievance hearing, according to people familiar with the case. Since there currently appears to be "no deal to be had," according to people with knowledge of the case, the Astros and Nix, the right-hander out of Los Alamitos (Calif.) High who is represented in the case by the MLB players union, are expected to battle it out in a hearing room. At issue is the $1.5 million contract Nix thought he had with Houston after negotiating it with the team. Nix is said to have passed a physical and believed he was about to join the Astros when they pulled back the offer after their draft allotment was severely cut following a snafu that killed their deal with No. 1 overall pick Brady Aiken. There are currently no signs any deal with Aiken could be resurrected despite a couple reports suggesting there could be. One of those reports was based on an on-camera question posed to commissioner Bud Selig, who at the time was being honored in San Diego and may not have heard the questioner was asking about Aiken. His answer was taken to mean there was progress, though there is actually no indication of anything happening with Aiken and the Astros. Selig spoke hopefully of a "resolution" at the time, and it was thought perhaps he thought the question was about Nix, but perhaps he was speaking about MASN or any one of a number of other things on MLB's plate. Anyway, the grievance is about Nix, and there is no evidence of a resolution forthcoming. The players union is said to maintain in its complaint that there was a "binding agreement" between the Astros and Nix, and it appears there was at least an agreement on a price at one point. Nix is said to have flown to Houston for a physical, a fact no one disputes, and no one has suggested he did anything but pass the physical. However, when Houston's $6.5 million deal with Aiken blew up after an Astros doctor allegedly found an irregularity in his pitching elbow, that meant the Astros no longer had the money for an above-slot deal for Nix. The 136th pick carried a slot value of only $370,500, so by rules Houston would have to forfeit two coveted draft choices to give Nix his deal, leading the team to decide not to complete the contract. At the moment there doesn't appear to be any movement toward a possible monetary settlement for Nix, as the sides appear content to play it out in a hearing room. The Astros also don't wish to reverse course and give Nix his deal since they no longer have the slot money and would still have to forfeit the two draft choices to go over slot. If the Astros were somehow allowed to do the original deal without forfeiting the draft choices, competing teams would object since rules require teams that go over slot by that much to lose future picks. Nix certainly thought he had a deal before the June 18 deadline, telling MLB.com on June 17, "It's a dream come true. It's pretty crazy we were able to come to an agreement in the fifth round." Nix, a member of Team USA's gold-medal-winning team in the 2013 U18 World Cup, also said then that he was preparing to travel to Kissimmee, Fla., to start his Astros career. Now, with Nix and Aiken apparently having thought they had deals, it also appears they are no longer cleared to accept scholarships at UCLA, either. When the Astros pulled their $6.5 million offer to Aiken after supposedly finding an elbow irregularity, they originally offered him only the bare minimum $3.1 million, which kept him from becoming a free agent. The team bumped the offer to $5 million just before the deadline, but a person close to the team suggested Aiken's side gave the impression then that he wouldn't sign with Houston even if the team restored the full $6.5 million offer. There have been suggestions on the players' side that the Astros tried to work the bonuses so they could also fit in 21st-round pick Mac Marshall, a left-hander, and if Houston had gotten Aiken to agree at $5 million, it would have had the $1.5 million Marshall sought. The Astros lost their first-round draft allotment of $7.9 million when Aiken didn't sign, and Marshall accepted a scholarship to LSU, meaning Houston got none of the three players it sought. The Astros will receive the No. 2 pick next year in a good draft as a replacement pick for the loss of Aiken. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer...ix-talks-with-astros-sides-headed-for-hearing[/rQUOTEr]
My only comments before the draft were that I hope they took the best player first, and did not try to make it about the "slot" money and save on #1 to sign others I don't follow college and HS baseball enough to know about the individuals themselves Now they may have thought Aiken was the best player anyway But damn, if the "slot" playing costs us the #1 pick and we get nothing for it next year, my fears will be even worse in reality
They certainly have a lot to lose... and remember, this is all up to some independent arbitrator (not MLB), who may find that there was an agreement (even though the Astros didn't technically break any rules). At that point, the Astros would rely on MLB to not force them to forfeit the draft picks, which would then likely raise uproar amongst the other teams. They need to settle this... way too much to lose over arrogance and "smarts". Hell, should have just given Aiken the $6.5 million and signed Nix to avoid all this crap. Only $1.5 mil more than they ultimately offered.
Most logical solution is to let him have the $1.5MM, dock $1.5MM off our total 2015 draft pool, and take away our 2015 5th rounder. We'd be losing a 5th rounder either way, whether it's this year's or next year's. Everybody would be getting their way under that scenario, while assessing the Astros a fair "penalty".
Let's wait and see how it plays out. The Astros were in constant contact with Major League Baseball through out this whole process and would not have handled the situation the way they did without assurances from the commissioners office. It wasn't about being arrogant. They really were concerned about his UCL and made the decision that Aiken, Nix and Mac > #2 pick next year but not two of the three. The Astros GM can be arrogant (I have met him), but some of the disdain is that the front office isn't a carbon copy of the rest of baseball. FWIW Luhnow isn't any more arrogant than Jed Hoyer or Theo Epstein.
So this just happened... http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2014/09/lsu_baseball_program_absorbs_a.html
Bump.... one last update on this draft class. Baseball America: Draft Report Card ($$) 2014 Draft Report Card: Houston Astros October 24, 2014 by Clint Longenecker QUICK TAKE After not signing Aiken with the first pick, Houston grabbed three college bats with hitting ability and power potential. The Astros have the second and fifth picks in the 2015 draft. Position players BEST PURE HITTER: While all three of the college bats the Astros drafted in the top three rounds—OF Derek Fisher (1), 1B A.J. Reed (2) and 3B/1B J.D. Davis (3)—have a case, Davis gets the nod. He has bat speed and strength from the right side to go with plus power potential, hitting .293/.373/.508 with 13 home runs across two levels. » BEST POWER HITTER: Reed led all of college baseball with 23 home runs and a .399 isolated power. He has plus power potential from the left side. Fisher has plus raw power. » FASTEST RUNNER: OF Bobby Boyd (8) is at least a 70-grade runner with a short stroke from the left side. Fisher is also at least a plus runner. » BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Boyd has the potential to be a plus defender in center with his speed, first-step quickness and instincts. Pitchers BEST FASTBALL: RHP Derick Velazquez (7) has an explosive fastball that sat 92-93 mph this summer, touching 96 with plus life to his arm side. RHP Dean Deetz (11) walked 6.8 per nine this summer, but his fastball was 92-94, touching 97. » BEST SECONDARY PITCH: RHP Daniel Mengden (4) is a tough, competitive strike-thrower who shows the makings of a plus changeup. Velazquez’s changeup has plus potential and his slider flashes plus. Deetz’s curveball shows at least above-average potential. Odds and Ends BEST PRO DEBUT: Davis impressed with his offensive production and his improved defense. Fisher likely would have been taken higher if not for a broken hamate in the spring. His beautiful lefthanded swing is short and compact with bat speed, producing a .303/.378/.408 line this summer. » BEST ATHLETE: Fisher for his strong, angular 6-foot-1, 207-pound build and plus raw power-speed combo. » MOST INTRIGUING BACKGROUND: RHP Josh James (34) grew up in the Virgin Islands and didn’t begin playing baseball until he was 17. He is the next product out of a loaded Western Oklahoma State JC program that has produced Andrelton Simmons and Sicnarf Loopstok. James is arguably the top pitching athlete of the Astros draft class with a fastball that ranges from 90-94 and slider that shows at least average potential, flashing above-average. » CLOSEST TO THE MAJORS: Reed combines lefthanded power with the potential to draw walks at an above-average clip. » BEST LATE-ROUND PICK: LHP Ben Smith (17) looked like a candidate to go in the top half-dozen rounds before undergoing Tommy John surgery after six starts. Nick Tanielu (14) is transitioning to second from third base. He is a natural, fluid and instinctual hitter with some pop from the right side. » THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY: LHP Brady Aiken (1) became the first No. 1 pick to go unsigned since Tim Belcher in 1983. Aiken’s camp and the Astros had been tight-lipped on whether or not the two sides were involved in a grievance, and Aiken had yet to enroll either at UCLA, where he’d been committed, or in a junior college.
Bump: it's over. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>astros & draftee nix, whose $1.5M deal was canceled thru no fault of his own, reach settlement. <a href="http://t.co/Pfjvo2p465">http://t.co/Pfjvo2p465</a></p>— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/544612716498124801">December 15, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> The Astros and unsigned pitching draftee Jacob Nix have quietly and confidentially come to a monetary settlement over the team's decision not to follow through on an agreed-upon $1.5-million deal with Nix nthat was negotiated but never signed following last June's first-year player draft. Nix and the Astros by all accounts had the agreement, but in a very unusual case, the Astros decided they couldn't sign the deal with Nix after they failed to sign No. 1 overall pick, lefthander Brady Aiken. Since the Astros failed to sign Aiken, they no longer had the slot money to sign Nix -- a top righthanded high school pitcher out of the Long Beach, Calif. area. Under MLB's rules, signing Nix after failing to sign Aiken to Aiken's under-slot deal would have required the Astros to forfeit future top draft choices, so instead they chose simply to pass on the deal for Nix, a talented fifth-round selection accorded an unusually high bonus designed to get him to pass on a UCLA scholarship. The financial settlement between the Astros and Nix, the amount of which isn't known, was agreed to after the players union, on behalf of Nix and agent Casey Close, filed a grievance citing the unfairness of Nix losing his deal over something that allegedly came up in Aiken's physical. The monetary payout helps the Astros avoid having to forfeit the picks, which was a possibility had an arbitrator ruled against them and ordered them to sogn Nix. It isn't known whether he preferred to pitch for them, anyway, bu this point. Nix traveled to Houston under the understandable belief that he had a deal if he passed his own physical, which he did, and had no expectation that his deal could fall through depending on Aiken's physical. The Astros reportedly cited what they said was an irregularity in Aiken's pitching elbow, and though Aiken's people and the union disputed the finding, and nothing ever was in evidence in his superb pitching record, the team took back its original $6.5-million offer to Aiken. The Astros' tried on signing deadline deal to resurrect their deal with Aiken, eventually offering $5 million, which was still short of the original $6.5-million agreement with the high school lefthander out of the San Diego area. When Aiken didn't taken the amended offer, the Astros decided not to stick with their deal with Nix, who happened to be a good friend of Aiken's represented by the same agency. Both players had scholarship offers to UCLA, and their eligibility is up to the NCAA. But considering both had negotiated deals and traveled to Houston for physicals and presumably press conferences (though there never was a press conference for either, obviously, when the deals fell through), their eligibility is up for debate. It is believed now that both top prospects will pitch at junior colleges instead.
Glad Astros were able to come to an agreement with Nix. I doubt the Astros would have lost at the hearing, but that the hearing was just too big a risk.
