Let's welcome the draft class of 2026 to the Astros! These 22 players, along with a few other guys who will be 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 5% overage (exceeding this amount results in loss of 2027 1st-round pick): $14,398,335 Pool money used: 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. Huge emphasis on guys who won't give away plate appearances by striking out on 5 pitches or less. 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. I’ll probably eat those words. 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.
Said it before and I’ll say it again, always eager for this annual thread, and grateful to @tellitlikeitis for all the fun
For all intents and purposes, Tronstein has given every indication that he’s going to Vandy. If Dana and the FO are able to pull off getting him to sign, I’d be pretty impressed. I think this has a chance to be a really solid draft class. Dana Brown’s reputation as a GM will likely be defined by the last 2 draft classes, whether he’s here next year or not.
I have seen rumors Peterson is demanding $3M, in which case I don’t see any way Tronstein also signs. For me signing all the top 15 round picks is a requirement for this to be a “good” draft. If Tronstein was an insurance pick then this is an ok but not good draft. Beck may only be a few hundred thousand and Johnson might not require an ton over his $800k slot. They get ~$700k over their pool with minimal penalty. The 7-10 rd Sr signs can probably get them another ~$700k. The big question is how much underslot the first 3 picks will go for.
Yes, thank you to everyone for their efforts in providing information regarding the drafted players. Honestly, this is like Christmas in July. Hopefully, we can sign most if not all of our picks and watch the 'Stros capture another playoff spot down the stretch. Thank you again.
What I think a reasonable bonus allotment would be for Houston to sign all their guys (rough estimates): Hughes $4.1M ($800k under); that's a bonus for #22 overall, I doubt he's turning that down. Radel $2.2M ($1.2M under); that's bonus for #45, this is questionable but close to where he was rated. Mendes slot; he was drafted right where he was projected so I assume this was a near slot agreement. Johnson $1.7M ($900k over); mid 2nd round money and a round higher than he was rated Durnan $200k ($400k under); he was not highly rated, another questionable one as he might be able to get big NIL $ for his Sr. year. Peterson $2.2M ($1.6M over); rumor is $3M but $2.2M is high 2nd round money, he'd be very hard pressed to make that up in NIL even over 3 years. Eddy slot; has option to go back to school Addari slot; has option to go back to school Carney $10k ($300k under); Senior sign Piasiecki $100k ($100k under); technically has option to go back to school Pruitt $100k ($100k under); technically has option to go back to school Butler $10k ($200k under); Senior sign Beck $450k ($300k over); he was not a big college commit so this is 5th round money Tronstein $1.2M ($1M over); this is late 2nd round money, who knows what the ask is. Fiene, Nowak, Thomas, Galloway, Tryon, Soto Jr., Miller, Uebelhor $150k or less; none of them count against the pool. That would get them right up to the 5% overage line.
