Saturday, June 13, 2009

Astros Draft Pick Slot Prices

Based on last year's signings and slot prices and accounting for Commissioner Selig's across the board 10% decrease in slots because of the economy, here is an estimate as to what the Astros draft picks are slotted to sign for. Mind you, this information is not made public by MLB, so I'm getting my info from Baseball America.

1) Jiovanni Mier
2009 Recommendation - $1,332,000
2008 Signing - $1,480,000
2) Tanner Bushue
2009 Recommendation - $522,000
2008 Signing - $740,000
3) Telvin Nash
2009 Recommendation - $324,000
2008 Signing - $367,000
3s) Jonathan Meyer
2009 Recommendation - $274,500
2008 Signing - $120,000

The Astros went over slot to sign one of their draft picks from 2008, Ross Seaton, who almost doubled his slot price in the supplemental portion of the third round. Reports were that the Astros were also willing to go above slot to sign third rounder Chase Davidson, but couldn't come to an agreement by the August 15th deadline. In previous years, most notably 2007, the Astros have been very reluctant to sign players for more than their slotted price. In fact, before last season, the most high profile signing above slot price was Tomball HS LHP Troy Patton, who was drafted in the ninth round of the 2004 draft and signed for $550,000 when the slot for every round after the 5th was around $120,000.

Only two players drafted in the first round have signed contracts to this point. Fourth overall pick Tony Sanchez signed for $2,500,000 and 26th overall pick Eric Arnett signed for $1,197,000. Both are in line with the commissioner's recommendations for the draft slot. This story on astros.com suggests the team may have many of the picks signed by this weekend. As picks sign, I'll update the blog with their price and where they fit into the system.

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