Is there any other source of conjecture on him being "damaged goods" besides the Ken Rosenthal BS blurb? I can't imagine the Astros would have not done enough homework to figure out that a pt was potentially pitching hurt, or was hiding an injury. It gets worse if it actually is a "major" injury (not sure how somebody can pitch that well if its something "catastrophic", but I guess its still only HS ball). And if its not catastrophic, and he's expected to make a full recovery, while the Astros should definitely not be giving him what he would "normally" get... they also shouldn't play total hard-ball and give him the absolute minimum either. If he's the player they wanted, the one they expect him to be at full strength, and he can recover from whatever this mythical/hypothetical injury is, I would still want them to try and get a deal done. (again... this is all conjecture as far as "injury" goes... and probably will look dumb once he's finally signed and it was just a matter of getting the other guys signed first).
That doesn't seem accurate. Your link is from before the deal was actually finalized. It goes against every single thing I've read from any source. Mostly just talk that the Blue Jays would not get another compensatory pick if they failed to sign this year's 11th pick, which was compensation for not signing their 10th pick last year. http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/6/5/5781090/2014-mlb-draft-rules-regulations-guide-basics
It is very odd that Aiken was here under the assumption of him signing a deal. And Jacob Nix was reportedly coming to sign a deal, and now neither has happened. Here is an article from Jon Heyman on the Aiken non-signing: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer...mains-in-limbo-nine-days-after-deal-was-close
Yea no idea what is up, but if it was just waiting on others to sign they wouldn't have brought him here and advertised it last week
And they can't really sign Nix before they sign Aiken. There is nobody for Aiken to be waiting on to sign.
Thanks for that... not sure if he was just piggy-backing off the Rosenthal speculation, but interesting to see that Luhnow was asked if it was a "physical" issue and he did not deny it. He also said they intend to get a deal signed, which I'm sure they do even if it is a physical situation... but that's where they would likely try to get a substantial discount (and if its not a catastrophic injury with a full recovery expected, I feel he should still be owed a decent signing bonus).
The 2011 baseball america link was from a week after new CBA was announced. Here's a more recent article from Mlb.com which discusses the rule in application to this years draft:http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb...-draft-picks?ymd=20140626&content_id=81715490
The deal hadn't been signed at that point though, the article said as much and that they were still working on the details. Interesting that most sources don't seem to be aware of that portion of the CBA (which best as I can tell is not included in the CBA posted by MLB.
Here's law on the comp pick situation http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/50726/keith-law-on-mlb-draft. Like you said, none the new draft rules (including pools, penalties, etc) are in the posted CBA, but I recall it being reported along with all the other draft changes a few years ago
Do you think they would have taken Aiken at 1.1 had they known about this elbow ligament issue prior to the draft? Take your best guess.
No, but if it's fully recoverable and they don't have to pay 1.1 money, he's still somebody they would want to retain. Next year is the same unknown process all over again. They know what they have in Aiken, who apparently was as good as he was with a ligament issue. Are teams prohibited from checking out all potential draft picks' elbows/shoulders (esp pitchers) prior to making picks?
Agree with this. Pocket the savings and play the draft next year. With the increase in elbow injuries, MLB is going to have to contemplate a system to get teams better medical records before a player is drafted.
What good is pocketing the savings if it cannot be used on any other drafted players this year or next year?
