Doesn't matter how far along he was. An verbal agreement between the parties wouldn't have violated his amateur status. Tyler Wells failed his physical last year and returned to college, though he didn't play because of surgery. Nix's problem was that he filed a grievance & Aiken's problem was that the Astros negotiated/discussed with Close.
I agree. I dont wish bad things for him, but when he doesnt pan out, I will probably chuckle. The guy had an opportunity of a lifetime and turned it down. And like you said, he was "arrogant" on top of it. Any misfortune in his career that results from this, he has nobody to blame but himself. That 5 million dollars would have essentially been a gift from the Astros.
"He didn't submit the paperwork that would permit the Astros to re-draft him, but he's cool with any of the other 29 teams picking him." Thank you.
Nix let Casey Close brain wash him about the Astros and then fired him. Oh well, at least Marshall is still on the table.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jeff Luhnow says he believes Brady Aiken did not give Astros permission to redraft him, just as Nix didn't</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/606512348967354368">June 4, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Probably not. He apparently wasn't able to pitch much this year due to an injury to his throwing hand. https://mlbdraftcountdown.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/notable-injuries-to-2015-draft-class/
Marshall didn't throw Astros under the bus. Astros didn't say they talked with his advisor. Nix field the grievance. Thats's and NCAA no no. Oops on Nix. Aiken threw Astros under bus regarding the media. Luhnow let "slip" that the Astros were negotiating with Close. That's an NCAA no no. Oops on the Astros.
The LSU coach was shocked by the decision. The JUCO coach said it was because he was hoping to be re-drafted.
Might be the reason that Nix fired his agent. Close was so angry at the Astros he used Nix to stick it to the Astros. Now Nix will likely be drafted lower, and won't have the leverage to negotiate a higher contract. Nix was drafted where he was because that was the talent he showed. But he has a lot of room for growth, and that was what he wanted his signing bonus to be based on. You can't blame ML GM's for saying show me what you're worth, don't tell me. Luhnow hedges his bets, and he carries risk with it. Sometimes it pays off, and other times they don't. McCullers was draft #41, and got near top 10 money. And he Correa go drafted #1 and got what a #3 pick gets.
Nix fired his agent because he had a bad outcome through no fault of his own. He went from a $1.5m bonus to a severance payoff and lost a year of development and that was entirely due to the Aiken negotiations. That's all on Close. Nix had a great interval year and will go much higher than the 5th round. He still has the same leverage of playing JUCO ball.
Agree with you, Nix could go in the first round. He has a GREAT pitchers body and has an easy delivery that can consistently hit 94-96 mph. He has a lot of potential and he has improved his secondary pitches as well. He erased some of the questions surrounding him last year. I was talking to Keith Law (he was in Chicago and I ran into him downtown) and he said Nix 50/50 to go in round one, and he personally would take him in the top 15.
The Astros final offer to him last year was $616k. That's equivalent to about the slot value for the 93rd pick this year. By all accounts he should go much higher than that this year, but that was another very risky position Close put him in. Nix has performed strongly in the past year and stayed injury-free, and he's still barely a top-40 prospect in a weak draft. Any setback and he could have easily fallen out of the top 100, and people would have been talking about him like they do Aiken.
Cant you also say that Nix put himself in that risky situation by demanding 1.5 million even though he wasn't going to be draft in the first round?
Well, it's usually a cut and dry thing. Pay him the money or he goes to college for 3 years. What was unique about the whole situation is that Nix didn't get the money and he lost his eligibility. It's easy to see why he's mad at the Astros even if it was strongly due to Close's involvement.
