After much consideration and gnashing of teeth I have to apologize for my reaction to our 1st round pick, second baseman Brice Matthews. Under any other circumstances I believe a second baseman in the first round is a wasted pick and I do not think I would have a hard time convincing you of the truth in that. But we are about to lose Jose Altuve. He will be long remembered as one of the greats. The Astros have a long history of great second basemen. I think that doing whatever it takes to continue that tradition is something that is worth doing. The Astros left a lot on the table to make this pick. Some we may yet regret but I am proud to know our tradition of great players at 2nd base is in good hands.
Very interested in what his bonus comes in at. He doesn't have much of a national profile, was committed to a small school, is an old high schooler (19 this month). Not the kind of guy you'd expect to get a big bonus, but maybe they just valued him very highly. Also possible he just really wanted to go pro regardless.
Speculating, Ochoa must’ve signed for an amount less than the amount saved among those other signed picks (plus the 5% amount they can go over without major penalty). So the savings from the other unsigned picks will have to be enough to cover any other unsigned overslot guys (Jaworksky, Huezo, Bush, Duncan). Would be shocked if they signed Duncan but am a little worried they might not get Huezo; still, I’m assuming they had all this worked out. I’m excited about Bush, power hitting C with solid defense is good find that late.
Openly wondering if signing the round 2 pick will make signing the reach round 19 pick possible? I for one have enjoyed the reduced signing period.
