Let's welcome the draft class of 2026 to the Astros! These 22 players, along with a few other guys who are signing as free agents in the coming days, are about to embark on a new chapter in their baseball careers with the Houston Astros. All news for the 2026 draftees will go in this thread. This year's signing deadline is 4 PM Central on July 27. College seniors are exempt from this deadline. Players drafted in rounds 11-20 can sign for up to $150,000 without having the bonus count against the bonus pool; for over-slot bonuses, only the amount over $150,000 will count. For junior college players, teams can elect to take the draft-and-follow approach. This rule returned when the current CBA was ratified in 2022. Should a team exercise this option, a JUCO player they pick can sign between the end of the JUCO season and the beginning of next year's draft for up to $225,000. Bold - player has signed or intends to sign Name stricken through - player intends to return to school/attend college Round 1, Pick 17: Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech (JR) Round 1, Pick 28: Jack Radel, RHP, Notre Dame (JR) Round 2, Pick 57: Wes Mendes, LHP, Florida State (JR) Round 3, Pick 93: Keon Johnson, SS, First Presbyterian Day School, Macon, Georgia (committed to Vanderbilt) Round 4, Pick 121: Kam Durnin, SS, Missouri (JR) Round 4 (compensation), Pick 133: Beau Peterson, 3B, Mill Valley High School, Shawnee, Kansas (committed to Texas) Round 5, Pick 153: Gavin Eddy, RHP, UC-Berkeley (RS SOPH) Round 6, Pick 182: Michael Addari, RHP, Illinois State (JR) Round 7, Pick 211: Bryan Carney, RHP, University of Olivet (SR) Round 8, Pick 241: Aaron Piasecki, SS, Troy (SR) Round 9, Pick 271: Ryan Pruitt, OF, South Florida (SR) Round 10, Pick 301: Taz Butler, RHP, Kansas State (5th-year SR) Round 11, Pick 331: Peyton Fiene, RHP, Odessa College (JUCO SOPH) Round 12, Pick 361: Owen Nowak, OF, Middle Tennessee State (JR) Round 13: Pick 391: Jack Beck, SS, Columbia Central High School, Columbia, Tennessee (committed to Georgia Southern) Round 14, Pick 421: Brady Thomas, RHP, Jacksonville State (SR) Round 15, Pick 451: James Tronstein, SS, Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles (committed to Vanderbilt) Round 16, Pick 481: Rashawn Galloway, C, Texas State (SR) Round 17, Pick 511: Ben Tryon, IF, Dallas Baptist (JR) Round 18, Pick 541: Petey Soto Jr., SS, Utah Tech (JR) Round 19, Pick 571: Noah Miller, C, Michigan (RS SOPH) Round 20, Pick 601: Mick Uebelhor, RHP, Western Kentucky (JR) Bonus pool: $13,712,700 Pool money used: 5% overage (exceeding this amount results in loss of 2027 1st-round pick): $14,398,335 The First 12, with slot values Round 1, Pick 17: Logan Hughes - $4,868,600 Round 1, Pick 28: Jack Radel - $3,363,600 Round 2, Pick 57: Wes Mendes - $1,677,400 Round 3, Pick 93: Keon Johnson - $846,900 Round 4, Pick 121: Kam Durnin - $638,800 Round 4 (compensation), Pick 133: Beau Peterson - $569,600 Round 5, Pick 153: Gavin Eddy - $467,700 Round 6, Pick 182: Michael Addari - $361,900 Round 7, Pick 211: Bryan Carney - $285,400 Round 8, Pick 241: Aaron Piasecki - $231,000 Round 9, Pick 271: Ryan Pruitt - $206,800 Round 10, Pick 301: Taz Butler - $195,000 Overslot 11-20 signings Undrafted Free Agents In the past, some players apparently signed as undrafted free agents with the Astros but never appeared on a minor league affiliate's roster. I'll be mindful of that. The bonus limit is also $150,000 for undrafted free agents. Here are the undrafted players who have agreed to terms with the Astros: Half-assed thoughts I was pretty surprised that Justin Lebron wasn't the first pick. Logan Hughes is very much a bat-first player, so that bat better be good as advertised. I think he will probably have to be in Houston by the end of the decade. That should be doable if the bat is indeed as good as advertised. Pie-in-the-sky outcome on offense is smaller Michael Brantley... but Brantley was actually a decent-to-good defensive player. Hughes will need to demonstrate competency somewhere in the field because he's not taking the DH spot from Yordan. A lot of us bemoaned the lack of splash during day 1, and that's understandable, especially with the extra money at their disposal. But this is a system that needs some guys with solid floors too, and Rabel and Mendes also fit the bill. They're both strike-throwing starters who should at least be inning-eating 4s. Rabel might have a bit of projection remaining to become a 2, even. Kam Durnin looks like a Nick Monistere copy, although he probably has a better chance to stay at short than Monistere, who I think has better offensive tools than Durnin. The trend of mid-round pitchers continues here, and I'm pretty intrigued with Michael Addari, who throws hard, and his MLB Draft Combine testing results suggest he's a good, possibly great, athlete. He's my sleeper pick for this class. Bryan Carney was probably the best pitcher in Division III. Coming from a very small school up north, there could be a bit of projection remaining with him. Taz Butler didn't have a great college season, but the analytics likes him and he's put up some great numbers as a starter in the MLB Draft League, so maybe he's one of those guys who could wind up being better as a pro than as an amateur. Huge emphasis on guys who get on base. Huge emphasis on guys who swing and rarely miss. I really like the high school quartet of Keon Johnson, Beau Peterson, Jack Beck, and James Tronstein. Something tells me Beck won't require an outrageous overslot amount, given his commitment to a small D1 school in Georgia Southern. Tronstein is probably eating most of that money. As I said, Johnson seems like he might have a higher floor than a typical high school pick. Alright, with all that being said, here is the 2026 Houston Astros Draft Pick Tracker.
