Astros refuse to sign #1 pick

[TheRef]

Apparently #1 pick Brady Aiken won't be headed to the Astros organization. He agreed to contract with team but Astros pulled the contract out from under him and it's past the signing period.

ETA: Misread the report. Aiken had a physical with the Astros, was found to have a possible concerns with the UCL in his left (pitching) elbow and the Astros reduced his contract by 40%. Aiken didn't sign.

[TheRef]

Collateral damage of this event is Fifth-rounder Jacob Nix who was represented by the same company. He agreed to a $1.5 million bonus within two weeks of the draft but with Aiken not signing, that can't happen without the Astros taking a penalty. Astros pulled the deal and Nix is left out in the cold.

[messageboardsuperhero]

UCLA is pretty damn happy.

The Astros have messed up the top pick two years in a row. They could have had both Kris Bryant and Aiken- instead they just have Mark Appel, who is struggling last I checked.

[I seen it dawg]

How fn stupid do the stros look? Gonna draft a guy 1 and they don't get that info before hand? It's like some jackass sat by the internet and called in and said hey take this guy he looks good on the computer. Their gm should be hung by his balls over this.

[TheRef]

How fn stupid do the stros look? Gonna draft a guy 1 and they don't get that info before hand? It's like some jackass sat by the internet and called in and said hey take this guy he looks good on the computer. Their gm should be hung by his balls over this.

MLBPA is investigating and could call for penalties to the Astros organization over the handling of this.

[I seen it dawg]

They damn well should. It's atrocious how they've done this shit.

[SDDawg]

The Astros are bordering on criminal with this bullshit they've been pulling. The Aiken kid is 100% healthy and his "abnormality" is nothing more than an attempt to job him out of some cash. The kid is going to get his cash in the end, and the Astros will still suck so all's well that ends well.

[Intramural All-American]

The Astros are bordering on criminal with this bullshit they've been pulling. The Aiken kid is 100% healthy and his "abnormality" is nothing more than an attempt to job him out of some cash. The kid is going to get his cash in the end, and the Astros will still suck so all's well that ends well.

Now how do you know that? I'm an Astros fan, and this sucks because he was obviously a stud. But don't act like you know anything about this kid's arm.

ETA: You really think we would want to not sign the player that we thought was the best in the draft? That doesn't even make sense.

[SDDawg]

This kid has had more scrutiny and medical evaluations than any player in the recent history of the draft. He is healthy according to all accounts and is still actively throwing right now. He's never been injured, he's been trained by professionals for his entire career so far and he has had his pitch counts controlled since he was 12 years old. Professional athletes are ABNORMAL, that's by definition. Their physical characteristics are not normal nor is the wear and tear on their bodies. I'm not a physician and I haven't spoken to the kid's doctors, but based on everything I've read the kid is healthy and there was no reason to go this route.

I agree with you that it doesn't make sense to do what the Astros did, but I still think it happened.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/Jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/3/?#article-copy

DISCLAIMER: My daughter goes to the same high school as Aiken but I have no association with him or his family.

[Intramural All-American]

I will say this, the Yankees drafted Scott Biddle a few years back, but then decided not to sign him because they saw potential for injury. Less than a year later, he had to go under the knife while still at Ole Miss. Major League baseball teams know what they are doing when they perform medical evaluations. I'm not saying that everything here was on the up and up, but I refuse to believe that a team would intentionally try to screw over the player that they believe was the best player in the draft.

[Dawg61]

Astros offered Aiken just enough to get the #2 pick in the draft for next year as compensation for losing Aiken. That means the Astros could very well get the #1 and #2 picks next year in the draft by pulling this stunt. Cheating fu@kers figured out a way to get past not liking who was #1 this year. Only problem is that Aiken gets thrown under the bus here. Pretty shitty of the Astros imo.

[Intramural All-American]

Astros offered Aiken just enough to get the #2 pick in the draft for next year as compensation for losing Aiken. That means the Astros could very well get the #1 and #2 picks next year in the draft by pulling this stunt. Cheating fu@kers figured out a way to get past not liking who was #1 this year. Only problem is that Aiken gets thrown under the bus here. Pretty shitty of the Astros imo.

If that is truly the mindset, that I'll have to agree with you that it is BS. But, we are planning a second half run, so we will be far from the 1st pick next year.

[Dawg61]

If that is truly the mindset, that I'll have to agree with you that it is BS. But, we are planning a second half run, so we will be far from the 1st pick next year.

Astros are tied with the D'Backs for 2nd worst record in baseball. They will be tanking on purpose. Imagine having the 1st and 2nd pick overall in a draft. I am assuming that is the first time in the history of any league that's happened. As an Astros fan you should be rooting for them to suck ass this year and let that happen. Anyone know whose projected as the top 2 picks next year? Did they purposely taint Aiken so that they could get a Harper/Trout/Strasburg type? If so I hope MLB kills them for this.

[SDDawg]

The problem with the tanking theory is that the #1 and #2 players in the draft still take time to get ready for big league play, could be a couple of years in some cases. It's long-term play. In the MLB you fix your team through free agency, the draft is a long-term investment (5 years+) in almost every single case. I just think the Astros got greedy here. If Aiken ends up having surgery at UCLA, I'll know I was wrong.

[Dawg61]

The problem with the tanking theory is that the #1 and #2 players in the draft still take time to get ready for big league play, could be a couple of years in some cases. It's long-term play. In the MLB you fix your team through free agency, the draft is a long-term investment (5 years+) in almost every single case. I just think the Astros got greedy here. If Aiken ends up having surgery at UCLA, I'll know I was wrong.

Yes but they could also trade one of those picks for an established player. Starlin Castro for example. Is Starlin Castro worth trading for a #1 overall draft pick? I would think the Cubs would have to seriously consider that since they already have a log jam at SS/2b right now. So that would mean the Astros essentially drafted Starlin Castro this year. There has to be 8-10 established players around the league on bad teams that would be willing to trade that player for a #1 draft pick.

[Intramural All-American]

Astros are tied with the D'Backs for 2nd worst record in baseball. They will be tanking on purpose. Imagine having the 1st and 2nd pick overall in a draft. I am assuming that is the first time in the history of any league that's happened. As an Astros fan you should be rooting for them to suck ass this year and let that happen. Anyone know whose projected as the top 2 picks next year? Did they purposely taint Aiken so that they could get a Harper/Trout/Strasburg type? If so I hope MLB kills them for this.

I was halfway joking. I really don't think we will finish with the worst record, though. I feel like the Cubbies will end up with that honor. But I'll be honest with you, I'm definitely not rooting for us to suck at this point. We have finished dead last 3 years running and it would be even more embarrassing to do it again.