The Houston Astros are in full rebuild mode, from a major league payroll of
about $45 million (29th in the majors, but up from $26 million last year) to
tanking the previous two seasons to having the No. 1 overall pick in three
straight drafts for the first time in draft history.
But the rebuilding process hit a major roadblock Friday, when the Astros failed
to sign this year’s No. 1 overall pick, San Diego high school lefthander Brady
Aiken.
It’s just the third time in draft history (which began in 1965) that the No. 1
overall pick has not signed. Previous unsigned picks Danny Goodwin (1971) and
Tim Belcher(1983) both went on to become first-round picks again and eventually
major leaguers.
A lefthander out of San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic High, Aiken and the Astros
had agreed to the parameters of a $6.5 million signing bonus in June, and Aiken
traveled to Houston. But his actual signing never materialized amid media
reports that the Astros found an issue with his elbow during a physical
examination.
Meanwhile, the Astros’ inability to sign Aiken jeopardized their reported
signing of fifth-rounder Jacob Nix, a righthander from Los Alamitos (Calif.)
High, whom MLB.com had reported as having agreed to a $1.5 million bonus. Not
signing Aiken would cost Houston the entirety of the $7.9 million allotted for
the No.1 overall pick from their overall signing budget, and the team would not
be able to afford Nix at more than $1.1 million over his allotment without
signing Aiken for a below-slot deal.
The signing never became official, and Friday’s 5 p.m. signing deadline came
and went, with no word from the Astros, Major League Baseball or Aiken's
adviser, Casey Close of Excel Sports Management. Around 5:15 p.m., Baseball
America learned from multiple sources that the Astros had failed to sign both
Aiken and Nix, as well as 21st-rounder Mac Marshall, a prep lefty from Georgia.
The Astros will receive a compensatory pick in the 2015 draft, second overall,
for failing to sign Aiken.
The Astros had re-engaged negotiations with Marshall at about the same time
that Aiken’s deal was reported to be in jeopardy, sources said. Marshall
already had reported to Baton Rouge, La., and was attending summer school
classes at Louisiana State when Houston reportedly offered him $1.5 million to
sign—the difference between their original reported deal with Aiken and the
$5 million baseball sources have indicated was their latest offer to Aiken.
The Astros issued an official statement that read in part,“We are disappointed
that we were not able to reach an agreement with Brady Aiken today. As an
organization, we devoted a great deal of time and resources to these
negotiations. Despite our best efforts, a deal could not be reached.”
Initial efforts to reach Astros general manager were unsuccessful. He told the
Houston Chronicle’s Evan Drellich, “We tried to engage Casey Close three times
(July 18) . . . there was no interest.”
Luhnow also told Drellich, “We did nothing unethical, we did nothing
disingenuous. We tried to sign good players at the appropriate values.”
Luhnow did nothing to improve his organization, however. The Astros drafted and
signed shortstop Carlos Correa first overall in 2012, and drafted and signed
righthander Mark Appel with the No. 1 pick in 2013. Correa has developed into
one of the game’s top prospects (though he has a broken leg and will be out
the remainder of the season), but Appel has failed to impress as a pro with a
succession of setbacks and a 1-5, 10.80 mark through 11 starts at high Class A
Lancaster this season.
Now the Astros will come out of the 2014 draft with three college power hitters
in outfielder Derek Fisher, first baseman (and Golden Spikes Award winner)
A.J. Reed and third baseman J.D. Davis their top signed draft picks.
The Players Association issued a statement critical of the Astros, saying,
”Today, two young men should be one step closer to realizing their dreams of
becoming Major League ballplayers. Because of the actions of the Houston Astros
, they are not. The MLBPA, the players and their advisers are exploring all
legal options.”
The union’s executive director, Tony Clark, had been critical of the Astros in
comments to FoxSports.com for jeopardizing Nix’s agreement once their initial
deal with Aiken didn’t materialize.
Both Akins and Nix had commitments to UCLA, but it’s unclear at this time if
they will honor those commitments or even be eligible to play for the Bruins.
Other options could include playing in junior college next season, which would
make them eligible for the 2015 draft.
In other draft news Friday, the Nationals went 1-for-3, signing first-rounder
Erick Fedde but failing to land lefthander Andrew Suarez, their second-round
pick. Fedde, a righthander out of Nevada-Las Vegas, had Tommy John surgery
June 2, two days before the Nationals drafted him 18th overall. Fedde signed
for $2,511,100, well above the slot for his pick of $2,145,600. Suarez, however,
didn’t sign and will return to Miami as a redshirt junior. The Nationals also
failed to sign ninth-rounder Austin Byler,
a power-hitting first baseman out of Nevada.
The other unsigned first-rounder, lefthander Sean Newcomb, agreed to a contract
with the Angels for a bonus of $2,518,400. That’s higher than the assigned
pick value of $2,475,600.
http://ppt.cc/bOhG
色人正式放生了狀元郎 Brady Aiken和第五輪選的Jacob Nix
Brady Aiken是繼1971年的Danny Goodwin和1983年的Tim Belcher後第三位沒簽約的狀元
色人也因此會得到2015年的首輪第二順位的補償選秀權
色人在明年的首輪選秀簽約金額度也提高到7.9M
MLB球員工會也發表了聲明 會考慮對色人球團發起法律行動
Aiken和Nix之前有承諾如果沒簽約就會進UCLA 但是現在也可能明年再次投入選秀
(好像有版友說Aiken現在就變成了FA 市價20~30M?!)
小弟對於選秀規則並不是很了解 有請版友補充