That’s a bummer. Kinda wasted that Springer compensation pick. Judging solely from bonuses, Houston comes out of this draft with 1 premium talent and 4 2nd-tier talents. An average draft usually has 2-4 premium talents and 8-10 2nd tier talents. A LOT of pressure on that Whitaker pick. Nook has said before Click is a swing for the fences, eggs in one basket style GM in the international arena and it looks this was the approach here. I wonder how long after today’s deadline before orgs have to be below the limit of total minor leaguers. Should be 15-20 guys released soon.
A huge bummer. You must sign your picks especially when you've been without firsts and seconds for two straight years. Do they get a pick next year because of it? If not, then that makes all of this even worse. Really disappointed in our front office. Not a good sign.
There’s no compensation after the 3rd round (unless I’m wrong which is possible). It’s not the end of the world to not sign a 4th rounder; I’m sure Ulloa changed his bonus demand number after he was drafted, and there’s not much Houston could do about that. Obviously would be better to have signed him, but either way this draft would hang on almost entirely on Whitaker, backed by the small potential of the others to dramatically outplay their bonus. Houston’s farm still has excellent depth. I would have liked them to have drafted a little better talent from the college side (at least 1 2nd tier OF and 1 2nd tier corner IF) but they probably could not have done that and still afforded to sign Whitaker. But looking at the expected Fayetteville lineup for next year it’s still pretty deep: CF Hamilton SS C Gonzalez RF Whitaker 1B Perry DH Sandle 3B Williams 2B Lorenzo LF Loperfido C Palma Bench: Alvarez, Kato, Wagner, Pinto (I expect Stevens to start in High A as a bench player.)
Yeah, I'm just in an eeyore mood lately. And its bugs the heck out of me to miss out on talent especially after the draft penalties from that POS Manfred. And yep........no compensation..... https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-signing-deadline-picks-unsigned Teams that don't land a choice in the top three rounds receive a selection after that pick in the next year's Draft as compensation.
Ulloa saw Whitaker get $1.5 million and probably thought he was worth like $1 million all of a sudden.
You can't make the kid sign. He went from "verbal agreement" on draft day to this. Given that we know absolutely nothing (outside of the maximum amount the Stros could offer) about the numbers and negotiations it's pretty silly to put blame on anyone.
As likely that Ulloa changed his mind as Astros changing their mind based on physical. The Astros gamed the draft to overslot Ulloa and Whitaker such that the other picks were about saving money to pay those 2 instead of acquiring top talent.
Maybe he learned he was related to Warren Buffett like the last mid round pick who decided not to sign. Something about Oklahoma State I guess.
Sometimes I wish I didn't know what I'm talking about. It's so much simpler to go with the popular fantasy.
I mean.......sure. But the vast majority of guys in the draft who have a verbal agreement end up signing. Ulloa was one of only three guys in the top ten rounds who didn't sign. There's something more to the story.
We are going to see more of this. When Click was in the room with the other 3 decision makers in Tampa, he was well known for going all out for a single player if they believed that they were really good. That was his position on international signings as well, he was not someone that wanted to spread the money out. He would push similarly in the US draft. Click was a huge proponent of signing Wander Franco for example. Now Click was just one of several voices (Bloom, Neander, Silverman), but he was one of the voices (with Bloom) that felt you risk it all for "the guy".
While I am not happy about it, I am not going to beat them up too hard over this. Gross knows what he is doing and he is very likely to find useful players from undrafted players and he may well hit on a higher percentage of guys that we did sign. Couple that with COVID and the minor league changes and it is just really hard to know what will or will not happen. I do know that the Astros were high on Whitaker.... and then there is the international market as well. The Astros added Leon last year, who is equivalent to a first round pick. Honestly, the person feeling some degree of pressure isn't Click or Gross, but it is Cook and to a lesser extend Gelles.
Have you heard whether or not Cesar Prieto is a realistic get in this next international signing period? I know they have the one Cuban SS for around a million and the Dominican of/1b Baez for 1.5. Hope they can find a way.
Rocker, 2 more from Top 10 rounds don't sign For the first time in three years, a first-round pick failed to come to terms with the team that selected him. The Draft signing deadline passed at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday without No. 10 overall choice Kumar Rocker reaching an accord with the Mets. MLB Pipeline's top-rated prospect entering the season, Rocker topped NCAA Division I with 14 wins and tied Vanderbilt teammate Jack Leiter for the strikeout lead with 179. He initially reached a $6 million agreement with the Mets, pending a physical. But that exam created concerns about his shoulder and elbow, and the resulting impasse couldn't be resolved. Rocker became the first first-rounder to not sign since 2018, when three high schoolers didn't come to terms: Carter Stewart (Braves, No. 8), Matt McLain (Diamondbacks, No. 25) and J.T. Ginn (Dodgers, No. 30). McLain went in the first round again this June and signed with the Reds for $4,540,790 as the 17th overall selection. Florida outfielder Jud Fabian (Red Sox, second round) and Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) shortstop Alex Ulloa (Astros, fourth) didn't turn pro. Boston will receive a second-round choice (No. 41) in the 2022 Draft, while unsigned picks after the third round garner no compensation.
