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Kind of feel like the Astros should have found this out before they drafted him.

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There is simply no way they could have without fundamentally changing the draft to allowing pre-draft physicals.

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Then I stand corrected. Guess the Astros have no fault.

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So Aiken is truly injured? Last I saw it was being debated that he wasn't injured at all and was in fact throwing currently.

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Don't think it is a current injury. I think it's an existing condition that could turn into a career ending injury. Am I correct in this statement?

Appel crapped the bed again. The front office has to be sweating bullets right now.

I don't follow this stuff that closely, but how can Aiken's camp have any leverage at all? If you are the Astros, you tell them this is the number and if you don't like it, good luck being a 3rd round pick next year when everyone has your medical info. The Astros have a decent fallback plan if they really get 1.2 pick next year.

Is Aiken scheduled to go to college or what? If they don't reach a deal, what does he do for the next year?

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Appel crapped the bed again. The front office has to be sweating bullets right now.

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He's halfway through his first year as a pro.

He's committed to ucla. From what I heard on radio today Aiken went to Dr Andrews and Andrews said he saw nothing wrong. Astros doctors said there is. So it sure doesn't so good on our end (meaning maybe we actually are just trying to low ball) but who knows. If Aiken does go to ucla he won't be draft eligible until 2017?

There is a small chance that we weren't in love with any of the top picks this year, and are trying to get two high picks for next year. IF that were the case, we couldn't expect that there would be no backlash.

Halfway through the first year or not, Appel is a disaster. There were reports last year when he was at Quad Cities that his stuff wasnt as good as advertised and some were projecting him as more of a middle of the rotation starter. Now he appears to have some major mental hurdles to overcome as well.

Baseball America did a study on the worst minor league starts by first round pitchers and their success rate as pros. The correlation was pretty grim and that was back when Appel only had two truly terrible starts. He may own the top 5 by himself now.

Im certainly not willing to give up on him, but anyone who says they arent concerned is lying to themselves.

Meanwhile, Bryant has soared into the top 3 on most of the mid-season prospect rankings and continues to look like he'll be special. Oops.

Appel is putting up some historically bad numbers. Either he has a health issue or he just isn't very good. The Astros keep running him out there so one would think its the latter. As a consensus 1-1 he should be able to survie in Hi A on ability alone and that hasn't been the case.

AJ Reed wins Golden Spikes Award

After reading up on the all star game, Cano going 0-2, Kinsler (not voted at all, injury replacement) getting put in and striking out after Altuve's RBI and leather flashing..

Im tired of Astros not getting any respect. Altuve deserved to start the damn game, and he gets one at bat.

Next time we have a coach in the all star game, I hope he snubs every player who is backing up an Astro.

And yes, I know it could be a long wait.

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Meanwhile, Bryant has soared into the top 3 on most of the mid-season prospect rankings and continues to look like he'll be special. Oops.

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Please stop with this.

It's been discussed ad nauseum that Appel was going to be the first pick no matter who was drafting 1.1. I'd be surprised to find out if there was a team out there that didn't have him #1 on their board.

Obviously, we can't see the future but at the time Appel at 1.1 was the best choice. Can't fault a club for making this pick.

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Meanwhile, Bryant has soared into the top 3 on most of the mid-season prospect rankings and continues to look like he'll be special. Oops.

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Please stop with this.

It's been discussed ad nauseum that Appel was going to be the first pick no matter who was drafting 1.1. I'd be surprised to find out if there was a team out there that didn't have him #1 on their board.

Obviously, we can't see the future but at the time Appel at 1.1 was the best choice. Can't fault a club for making this pick.

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This.

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Kind of feel like the Astros should have found this out before they drafted him.

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There is simply no way they could have without fundamentally changing the draft to allowing pre-draft physicals.

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Then I stand corrected. Guess the Astros have no fault.

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No one is at fault although we as humans just have to assign blame to someone.

That's why this situation sucks so bad. Aiken probably didn't know he had this abnormality. His parents have babied his arm to help scare away injury concerns. The Astros draft him because he was lauded for being the least injury concern among the big 3 pitchers at the top. This just is **** luck on both sides.

all right, the 'stros come out of the break Friday with a 3-game series at Chicago (south side)and then 3 more at Oakland

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Please stop with this.

It's been discussed ad nauseum that Appel was going to be the first pick no matter who was drafting 1.1. I'd be surprised to find out if there was a team out there that didn't have him #1 on their board.

Obviously, we can't see the future but at the time Appel at 1.1 was the best choice. Can't fault a club for making this pick

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I dont buy that one bit and am curious where you got the impression that every team had Appel first on their draft board. I actually remember many of the expert mock drafts had Gray ahead of him, while Bryant was the consensus top hitter (at a position of need for Houston nonetheless). Even before the draft, many of the scouting reports on Appel had him as the most polished and MLB-ready pitcher in the draft, but probably more of a #2 pitcher, and not having as high of a ceiling as other pitchers like Gray.

Nice to see Ruiz get some love

I like Rio.





One of the knocks that one of our TCB writers had on Rio was that he was too pull happy. This was from way earlier in the year. He seems to have figured that out.

there were numerous concerns and whispers among scouts and front office personnel about Appel and his workload during his 4 years at Stanford

We get baseball again tonight

So when is the deadline on Aiken?

I know it's today but is it end of business or midnight?

4 pm

Aiken is checking out junior colleges to see where he will pitch next year. He will never wear an Astros jersey

So let's say (for the sake of discussion) that the Astros finish worst in baseball again this year. Would we then have the top2 picks in the upcoming draft?

Source?

Sounds like we are missing out of Aiken & Nix (5th rounder) after both agreed to terms after the draft. Awesome job, guys.

Even if he goes jc isn't his draft stock already damaged for next year? Everyone now knows of this ligament issue and can't imagine him going number 1 again

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So let's say (for the sake of discussion) that the Astros finish worst in baseball again this year. Would we then have the top2 picks in the upcoming draft?

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Yes

I feel bad for Brady Aiken, but if he doesn't sign with the Astros, he's an idiot.


The injury concerns and questions are out there. They will not go away. Even if he goes and pitches at a JUCO for a year and re-enters the draft, he will not make as much as he can right now.

He is gambling on being at least a top 8-10 pick again to have a chance to make $3.1 million. Here's the slot value for each pick this year.



No club is going to risk taking him that high with the questions about injury. He will be a 3rd rounder at best. If his family is so jaded that they are willing to risk this just to stick it to the Astros, so be it.


The #2 pick next year is well worth it if he is that much of an idiot.

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Even if he goes jc isn't his draft stock already damaged for next year? Everyone now knows of this ligament issue and can't imagine him going number 1 again

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He'd have to be drafted in the top 8 to get at least what the Astros are offering him (if reports of the minimum $3.2 million offer are legit). The 5th pick might carry a slot bonus of $4 million next year, so really he'd have to be a top 5 pick to make any financial sense. To me, this is all ego and principal.......and a stupid financial decision. But hey, good luck to the kid. The Astros will have an amazingly large bonus pool next year if he doesn't sign.

Do we run into trouble having the 2nd pick to go along with our ~3-7 pick when it comes to money to sign. I am unfamiliar with the baseball draft, but I believe there is a pool of money you are limited to. That is what is hurting us with Nix according to all the articles out.

Anyone heard anything on Marshall?

Plus, if the Astros want to... they could more than likely get he and Nix ineligible for college baseball. Not saying they will, but Aiken has a lot more to lose than the Astros in my opinion.

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Do we run into trouble having the 2nd pick to go along with our ~3-7 pick when it comes to money to sign. I am unfamiliar with the baseball draft, but I believe there is a pool of money you are limited to. That is what is hurting us with Nix according to all the articles out.

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We'll have a huge bonus pool next year with likely two top 5 picks. Should provide the opportunity for Luhnow to get an under slot deal and be aggressive with some tough sign prospects.

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Anyone heard anything on Marshall?

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Only chance we have at him is if Aiken signs for $5 million or less. He wants $1.5 million to sign, and we don't even have the money for Nix, a higher priority, without Aiken signing.