Currently $739,500 in slot savings, with 3rd rounder, 4th rounder & 7th rounder to go. Joey Loperfido is a Senior, so probably signing under slot too. We'll probably have around $1.5M to offer Whitaker. Forgot about there being 2 4th rounders... Definitely wouldn't expect anything meaningful left over to chase the late draft HSers.
My guess is the 19th and 20th round picks are insurance for Whitaker. If they were signable, they would likely have been taken earlier, and the new draft rules cap UDFA at $20k, so they couldn't use the money on any undrafted HS. Good to see our math comes out the same though! Baseball America has the Astros signing Kouba (12th), Swanson (16th), and Williams (17th) for $125k and Wagner (18th) for $50k. Swanson is interesting. He averaged 110 yards recieving with 19 touchdowns as WR his senior year of HS, then spent a year at Seminole state (Toro's alma mater) without playing. He transferred to a D2 school where he played some 1st and pitched 8 innings out of the BP. This year he threw 87 innings with a 1.55 ERA 11k/9 and 2.3 BB/9, winning the D2 freshman of the year award. Saw a video where he was low 90s with a decent looking curve and slider. He looks athletic and should have a pretty fresh arm, so he might be a nice developmental pick.
Astros obviously do not care at all about size. That dude looks like he’s 14 years old. He was a decent prospect in HS and topped out at 90 mph in 2019, so I imagine he’s sitting at least in the 92-93 range now.
It looks like he was born in the Dominican Republic, so they could send him to the DSL to get innings.
A low release point (shorter is better) helps 4S fastballs play up in the zone. Being tall typically helps with velocity and pitching down in the zone. Taller pitchers typically do better because they typically throw harder (which allows them to go upstairs) and get better extension to the plate. Though, shorter pitchers with decent velo and high spin can be surprising as the ball seems faster.
That leaves Whitaker and Ulloa in the top 10 rounds. They have saved ~$900k, giving them about $2 million to split between the two.
That’s the equivalent of the 49th overall slot bonus. Looks like the Astros bet their entire draft on Whitaker. Will be interesting to see what Ulloa gets and if Nieves and/or Linn sign.
Some had him in the top 50 so equals out I guess. Here's hoping they got a steal. Last year with Santos and now this year Whitaker, I think Click and company did a good job considering their 1st pick was in the 3rd thr last 2 drafts.
In addition to Whitaker and Loperfido, Chad Stevens has also officially signed, along with undrafted free agent RHPs Kasey Ford and Deylen Miley. Bryant Salgado (14) has also signed.
OP updated Chaidez (15), Nieves (19), and Linn (20) are the last three unsigned players in the class.
