Brady Aiken signs $6.5 million deal with Astros

Greg Thurston

The father of #1 overall draft pick Brady Aiken told Fox 26’s Mark Berman that his son has “a verbal agreement in place” with the Astros. Jim Aiken says he was involved in the negotiations and a deal is “pretty much done”.

The 17-year old lefty from Cathedral Catholic H.S. in San Diego also weighed in on the subject with mlb.com, saying.

"“I know my advisors and the Astros are talking and they’ve pretty much got it locked down. I’m really excited and can’t wait to get out there and start playing for the Astros. The Astros, having the organization that they do have and the young players, young talent they have, it’s important to get out there and get used to the system and their philosophy so I can get to the bigs and help them win some games.”"

It is believed that the Astros, who have a policy of staying quiet until the signature is in place, will be able to sign Aiken for a figure below the $7,922,100 slot value of the first overall pick. That scenario would free up extra cash for wooing players who were selected in later rounds and may be tougher to sign. This is a strategy that has worked for Jeff Luhnow in the past.

According to Brian McTaggart, the Astros have already signed three of their top ten picks. RHP Brock Dykxhoorn (6th rd.), CF Bobby Boyd (8th rd.), and RHP Jay Gause (10th rd.) have all agreed to terms with the club.

UPDATE:

Jim Aiken (or maybe it was Mark Berman) has flip-flopped a bit on the original quote.

Brady Aiken's dad now says "We will be working with the Astros to come to an agreement and finalize an agreement in the next week or two."
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) June 7, 2014

Look closely at the url of The original article. Something fishy is going on here.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:

The deal is done!

1-1 pick Brady Aiken agrees w/@Astros on $6.5 mil. Ties Jameson Taillon's record for largest @MLBDraft bonus given to HS P.
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 7, 2014

Greg Thurston

The senior member of the CTH staff (in more ways than one) I have been rooting for the Astros since long before any members of the current roster were born. My favorite players through the years include Bob Watson, Glenn Davis, Steve Finley, Mike Hampton, and Roy Oswalt. Even though the results on the field have been poor for for the last few seasons, I still enjoy following and writing about the team. I'm keeping hope alive that things are going to get much better soon.