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Post by mjammz on Jul 18, 2014 17:25:40 GMT -5
Have to think Aiken goes the Loux, Hochevar rout and plays independent ball, re-enter the draft next year.
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Post by Gwell55 on Jul 18, 2014 17:50:04 GMT -5
Jon Heyman ?@jonheymancbs 1m #astros made multiple offers to aiken to try to bridge the gap. offered close to $5M. there was said to be no counteroffers. Evan Drellich ? evandrellich 5m “We tried to engage Casey Close three times today … there was no interest” — GM Jeff Luhnow tells the Chronicle If Evan is telling the truth it sounds like Aiken is now ineligible for college ball. Engaging Close isn't advising the family just as the Philly deal last year. That is correct right? |
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Post by jimed14 on Jul 18, 2014 17:53:22 GMT -5
Jon Heyman ?@jonheymancbs 1m #astros made multiple offers to aiken to try to bridge the gap. offered close to $5M. there was said to be no counteroffers. Evan Drellich ? evandrellich 5m “We tried to engage Casey Close three times today … there was no interest” — GM Jeff Luhnow tells the Chronicle If Evan is telling the truth it sounds like Aiken is now ineligible for college ball. Engaging Close isn't advising the family just as the Philly deal last year. That is correct right? That is about the only thing that would make this more ridiculous than it is. |
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Post by bigpupp on Jul 18, 2014 18:00:57 GMT -5
Have to think Aiken goes the Loux, Hochevar rout and plays independent ball, re-enter the draft next year. Loux didn't reenter the draft, he was declared a free agent by MLB. Have to think there is a big chance that the same thing happens with Nix. |
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danr
Veteran
Posts: 1,871 
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Post by danr on Jul 18, 2014 18:03:26 GMT -5
The Sox signed more draft picks this year than any since 2005 when 32 were signed, including Ellsbury, Buchholz and Lowrie. If this draft yields three players of that caliber, it will be a very successful one.
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Post by burythehammer on Jul 18, 2014 18:17:52 GMT -5
Extra classy of Luhnow to make sure he told the media, on the record, that he was negotiating with Close.
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Post by mgoetze on Jul 18, 2014 18:19:45 GMT -5
Extra classy of Luhnow to make sure he told the media, on the record, that he was negotiating with Close. I'm sure he made a lot of friends in the agent/"advisor" community that way. Of course the NCAA is just ridiculous and should be abolished anyway, so I'm all in favor of pretending they don't exist. |
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Post by burythehammer on Jul 18, 2014 18:29:23 GMT -5
If I'm Aiken I can't imagine waiting another 3 years to be drafted anyway. He clearly was ready to start his pro career. Juco route makes the most sense/is the least risky assuming he can't pull off a miracle and be declared a FA (in which case, get Casey Close on the phone, Ben!)
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Post by azblue on Jul 18, 2014 19:33:36 GMT -5
The smart thin for Close to tell the NCAA is that he did not return the calls because he is only an advisor.
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Post by Gwell55 on Jul 18, 2014 19:49:15 GMT -5
Extra classy of Luhnow to make sure he told the media, on the record, that he was negotiating with Close. If I offered a kid 5 million and they refused to acknowledge (after I found a problem in a MRI I wasn't comfortable with) I wouldn't give a dang about Close after he went to the media first ... I reckon I would try to be fair to Close and state what happened if the press asked me too. |
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alnipper
Veteran
Living the dream
Posts: 639
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Post by alnipper on Jul 18, 2014 19:52:26 GMT -5
Maybe we'll draft Aiken next year.  |
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Post by James Dunne on Jul 18, 2014 20:07:32 GMT -5
Can someone explain it to me like I'm a five-year old the benefit to me to the Astros of not giving in and just honoring the original offer? In the hundreds of millions of dollars it costs to run a major league baseball organization, they let the situation turn into a total disaster over $1.5 million? I guess they needed to prove to all those future #1 overall picks that they'll be getting that they aren't screwing around? The second overall pick and a big bonus pool in a weaker class next year?
Also, a hard-slotting system would make life better for everyone. Let's cut through the silly games and make first-round picks into first round picks and eleventh-round picks into eleventh-round picks.
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Post by mredsox89 on Jul 18, 2014 20:14:14 GMT -5
Can someone explain it to me like I'm a five-year old the benefit to me to the Astros of not giving in and just honoring the original offer? In the hundreds of millions of dollars it costs to run a major league baseball organization, they let the situation turn into a total disaster over $1.5 million? I guess they needed to prove to all those future #1 overall picks that they'll be getting that they aren't screwing around? The second overall pick and a big bonus pool in a weaker class next year? Also, a hard-slotting system would make life better for everyone. Let's cut through the silly games and make first-round picks into first round picks and eleventh-round picks into eleventh-round picks. Lunacy. That's the only argument if it's true that they even bumped up to $5M by the end of the day today. They banked on him agreeing to sub-slot $ so they could sign the other two guys, and when Aiken balked at $5, they lost all 3 They decided it was worth the gamble where the outcome was losing all 3, as opposed to maybe only getting Aiken and missing on the other two. Worst case scenario should have been them resulting with just Aiken, and unless they truly didn't want him anymore (which doesn't really sound like what ended up happening) it was a complete flop. If they ended up not wanting Aiken at all, then fine, the only result is bad publicity and maybe some bargaining issues down the line, and they get the #2 next year and maybe get someone they prefer |
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Post by amfox1 on Jul 18, 2014 20:46:12 GMT -5
Can someone explain it to me like I'm a five-year old the benefit to me to the Astros of not giving in and just honoring the original offer? In the hundreds of millions of dollars it costs to run a major league baseball organization, they let the situation turn into a total disaster over $1.5 million? I guess they needed to prove to all those future #1 overall picks that they'll be getting that they aren't screwing around? The second overall pick and a big bonus pool in a weaker class next year? Also, a hard-slotting system would make life better for everyone. Let's cut through the silly games and make first-round picks into first round picks and eleventh-round picks into eleventh-round picks. The Astros had $7.92mm, $0.37mm and $0.10mm slots for Aiken, Nix and Marshall. They cut deals of $1.5mm with Nix and Marshall, which left a maximum of $5.39mm for Aiken. With the 5% overage, they could go to $6.06mm to Aiken. I can understand not honoring the original offer once the medical concerns arose. Why they tried to nickel and dime Aiken instead of just going to $5.39mm, I don't know. I suspect that this had more to do with the advisor, Close, than anything else. My guess is Aiken goes the JUCO route for a year, does not allow HOU to re-draft him and makes a couple of million less than had his advisor answered the phone today. If the MLB forces HOU to sign Nix for $1.5mm, they will be forced to forfeit two first round picks - I don't see that happening. My guess is that Nix will be declared a free agent and makes $1.5+mm with another team (I have no idea how it would impact on draft pools/overages). We have no idea at this point whether next year's class will end up being weaker or stronger than this year. What we likely know is that HOU will not be drafting any of Close's clients for a while. |
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Jul 18, 2014 21:02:01 GMT -5
Have to think Aiken goes the Loux, Hochevar rout and plays independent ball, re-enter the draft next year. Loux didn't reenter the draft, he was declared a free agent by MLB. Have to think there is a big chance that the same thing happens with Nix. And as Amfox alluded to, as a HS draftee rather than a college draftee, Aiken can just go the juco route. I'm in agreement that he'll likely do that. If you're already good enough to go 1-1, there's no reason to wait 3 years to re-enter the draft no matter how much you like UCLA. |
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Post by kingofthetrill on Jul 18, 2014 21:03:39 GMT -5
Six top-ten round picks did not sign, including Aiken/Nix (HOU), Suarez/Byler (WAS), Megill (STL) and Zehner (TOR). Zehner is a senior so I wonder what happens with him. I imagine he can't go back to school so does he play independently? Trevor McGill plays for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape League and he was fun to watch. I think he was pitching short outings due to coming back from an injury. The dude is 6' 8" so you can't miss him. Also I vaguely remember the announcer from Orleans saying that he was suspended from the team at some point, so while I am in no position to speculate, I can only imagine if that becomes a puzzle piece. I know the announcer at Orleans so I'll check back in with him to see if he has more information on the suspension, if nothing else but for personal snooping reasons. |
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Post by sammo420 on Jul 18, 2014 21:50:28 GMT -5
Also, a hard-slotting system would make life better for everyone. Let's cut through the silly games and make first-round picks into first round picks and eleventh-round picks into eleventh-round picks. If you're going to do that then I want players declaring for the draft so HS kids don't change their mind after getting drafted by the Phillies Not that I blame them though |
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Post by mgoetze on Jul 18, 2014 21:53:32 GMT -5
Also, a hard-slotting system would make life better for everyone. Let's cut through the silly games and make first-round picks into first round picks and eleventh-round picks into eleventh-round picks. If you're going to do that then I want players declaring for the draft so HS kids don't change their mind after getting drafted by the Phillies Not that I blame them thoughOnly in the America, land of the free, do people root for even more exploitation of the workforce. |
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Post by amfox1 on Jul 18, 2014 22:08:08 GMT -5
Zehner is a senior so I wonder what happens with him. I imagine he can't go back to school so does he play independently? Zehner has eligibility as a fifth-year senior. |
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Post by mredsox89 on Jul 19, 2014 0:46:53 GMT -5
I'm stunned that Suarez didn't sign, but thrilled being a Miami guy. He's easily the #1 starter on the team next season on a team that had major questions in the rotation after the top 4 all were expected to be gone.
Really wonder if UM ended up offering him a full scholly. That's been the only way they've kept a top 10 round talent in the last 10 years, and I think it's only happened once.
Edit: Did the Nationals go well over slot to someone outside the top 10 rounds? They were well under on many of their top 10 picks, yet apparently didn't offer over slot (980K) to Suarez
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Post by bigpupp on Jul 19, 2014 1:48:59 GMT -5
Loux didn't reenter the draft, he was declared a free agent by MLB. Have to think there is a big chance that the same thing happens with Nix. And as Amfox alluded to, as a HS draftee rather than a college draftee, Aiken can just go the juco route. I'm in agreement that he'll likely do that. If you're already good enough to go 1-1, there's no reason to wait 3 years to re-enter the draft no matter how much you like UCLA. Right. While I think Aiken is likely to attend JC, I really think it's possible for Nix to be declared a FA. He has a legitimate claim, IMO, that he was misled throughout the process and that trying to tie his signing to another players signing directly goes against the rules set forth by major league baseball. A lot of it might depend on whether he is declared ineligible by the NCAA, but either way I think this how it will play out with him. |
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Post by amfox1 on Jul 19, 2014 6:40:00 GMT -5
Edit: Did the Nationals go well over slot to someone outside the top 10 rounds? They were well under on many of their top 10 picks, yet apparently didn't offer over slot (980K) to Suarez The Nats gave all of their extra money to Fedde, which only allowed them to offer slot to Suarez. |
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Post by vermontsox1 on Jul 19, 2014 7:24:25 GMT -5
I wonder if MLB will tinker with the draft rules because of this fiasco. This whole situation is terrible for MLB, as it attempts to attract players to the sport. The great part about the old system was that teams could influence almost anyone to sign without truly gaming the system. There aren't any easy fixes without completely overhauling the system, but it would be interesting if MLB allowed teams to go further over slot...say 10%, instead of 5% or something like that.
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Post by amfox1 on Jul 19, 2014 7:39:59 GMT -5
I wonder if MLB will tinker with the draft rules because of this fiasco. This whole situation is terrible for MLB, as it attempts to attract players to the sport. The great part about the old system was that teams could influence almost anyone to sign without truly gaming the system. There aren't any easy fixes without completely overhauling the system, but it would be interesting if MLB allowed teams to go further over slot...say 10%, instead of 5% or something like that. The system was put into place to limit spending on draftees, because teams like BOS were gaming the system. If anything, if there are changes, it would be more likely to go to a fixed slot system, rather than provide greater flexibility. |
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Post by mjammz on Jul 19, 2014 7:40:36 GMT -5
Edit: Did the Nationals go well over slot to someone outside the top 10 rounds? They were well under on many of their top 10 picks, yet apparently didn't offer over slot (980K) to Suarez The Nats gave all of their extra money to Fedde, which only allowed them to offer slot to Suarez. No surprise. Mike Rizzo is basically Scott Boras' indentured servant. |
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