5:41pm: Correa's bonus is worth $4.8MM, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
3:54pm: The deal is official, McTaggart tweets. Luhnow said it's a "monumental day" for the franchise.
THURSDAY, 3:30pm: Correa is in Houston and will sign shortly, Alyson Footer of the Astros reports (on Twitter). The Astros are announcing their deal with the top prospect today.
WEDNESDAY: The Astros have a verbal agreement to sign first overall selection Carlos Correa, according to owner Jim Crane, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports (on Twitter). GM Jeff Luhnow said earlier in the week that he expected to sign the Puerto Rican shortstop by Thursday.
Terms of the deal are not yet known but sources told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that it will likely be in the vicinity of $5MM. The Astros took signability into heavy consideration and reportedly didn't settle on selecting Correa until the eleventh hour. Pitcher Mark Appel, a Scott Boras client who fell to eighth overall, allegedly rejected a $6MM offer from Houston.
Crane says that the team's deal with Correa is structured in such a way that it will allow the club to also retain some of its favorite picks, according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). The Astros will likely need to spend big in order to sign No. 41 pick Lance McCullers Jr., a right-hander who has committed to play for the University of Florida.
Good deal if under 5.1 Mill.
yeah i agree, then the extra money could be used to sign lance or c.j
Speculation from “sources” on twitter said the first number would be a 4.
So 4,999,999.99?
If he signs for around 5 mil then there is a good chance they could sign Mccullers, Ruiz, and possibly Virant
It’s starting to look like the Astros’ front office might be competent again. How refreshing.
A competent GM is all a franchise needs to become competitive. Then that’s good news for the Astros.
A competent owner helps too. Drayton McLane didn’t know a darn thing about baseball. He once asked what a backup catcher is. When things went south after he blew off three drafts in a row, he sold the team rather than go through the rebuild.
well they just signed Brady Rodgers(3rd rder) a few secs ago and Phillips (6th rder)told the Tampa paper he is turning down the scholarship to sign, which considering he was a super hard signee is pretty awesome.
Love the quick signings. We are getting the draft picks signed and early.
I was going to say the same thing sir. That was a very quick signing indeed!
So much for the new bonus system correcting the best-available/signable problem. Have fun developing the next Matt Bush, Astros. You can try converting him to pitcher in 2015.
this is NOTHING like the Matt Bush fiasco.
Correa is more signable than Appel, but Appel, Correa, and Buxton were/are all seen as pretty even in terms of BPA. Correa is seen as having a higher ceiling and lower floor, while Appel had a higher floor and more certainty but not as high a ceiling.
And, the Astros aren’t just pocketing that money, they’re using part of a strict amount of draft cap space to sign Lance McCullers Jr., Nolan Fontana, and Rio Ruiz, which were ambitious picks at their spots and will require overslot deals.
Matt Bush was NOT even in the conversation for BPA at #1 that year, and was seen as a “safe” pick to save money by Moores in a year where MLB didn’t have draft caps.
Lance and Rio will require overslot deals, not sure Fontana will though
Don’t feed the trolls. Love the pick/signing.
Yeah, and if all works as planned, then Correa will be the next Derek Jeter.
That would be okay, but the comps for him are Alex Rodriguez and Troy Tulowitski, which imo would be better.
That is true. You are correct.
I only used Derek Jeter as my comparison because it was more of a symbolic representation; that 20 years ago, they had a chance to grab a great SS but blew it.
Not one person on this planet can tell who will be what. To say the Astros blew it is ridiculous. The draft is a gamble
I pressed ‘like’ by accident.
Anyhow, in response to your comment:
No, you are wrong. The Astros DID blow it. In 1992 goal for this draft was to pick a player who could rise through the minor leagues quickly and contribute to the big-league team sooner, rather than later. The Astros were hoping for the quick fix, and for that purpose, they picked Nevin over anyone else in that draft.
I’m not saying that had they drafted another player (ex. Derek Jeter) that they would have had a solid player for many years; that’s not my point. My point is that they set their goal (the quick fix), and failed miserably. Had Nevin actually manage to quickly join the Astros and contributed to the team, then that would be a success.
Also, I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear in my example.
Jeter first experienced the big leagues in 1995 and became a full time player by 1996
Nevin first experienced the big leagues in 1995 and became a full time player by 1998
And this is how Nevin performed before being traded: .117/.221/.133 with no HR, 1 RBI in 60 AB.
So the reality is that Jeter, not Nevin, would have been the ‘quick fix’ and that is why I used him in my example.
Thus, the notion that the Astros ‘blew it’ is very dignified and fair.
I was a little iffy on this draftee, but after looking more into Buxton/Appel/Correa, I think the Astros made an awesome pick. Can’t wait to see him progress!
It’s almost like they know what they’re doing. What about that?
Amazing what a team can do when it’s suddenly owned and run by people with, you know, brains.
its unreal, how can a player like Brent Siefert be left undrafted, A excellent player all arround, I keep thinking there must be a mstake
McCullers will not be going to Florida. I’m just saying.
I think they are going to try pretty hard after a couple really late picks that want 2nd day money as well.
Now we need to see that we won the bidding on Jorge Soler.
this is good news -correa will be the best shortstop 4 the astros since craig beagio
Biggio didn’t play shortstop, but I like your enthusiasm.
No no, not Biggio, Beagio, the legendary eight-feet tall Astros shortstop from Timbuktu.
Hope you enjoy him Houston, you essentially stole the Mariners future SS right beneath them.
Listening to Correa speaking this kid sounds like the 80’s Boricua in which is Puerto Rican players who always got down to business in the diamond like Edgar Martinez,Ruben Sierra,Roberto Alomar,Carlos Baerga,Juan Igor Gonzalez,Bernie Williams,Ivan Pudge Rodriguez
That is about $.18 mil more than Appel will get. Correa will have a summer’s games under his belt, before Appel even signs. Good job Boras.
4.8 sounds like a steal. i haven’t felt this optimistic about what houston was doing since gerry hunsicker ran the show. awesome job jeff!