Zach Levine's ridiculously-headlined article on the draft - seriously. Check it out. - gives us some indications about how the Astros will now be aggressive in signing their picks.
Ed Wade:
“We have the ability in our budget to do what's right. That said, we're not going to go over slot so we can say, ‘Hey, the Astros went over slot seven times.' We want the right player.”
On another note, Levine does some fine work getting the potential price tag on a #8 pick:
The price tag on that No. 8 pick likely will be in the neighborhood of $2 million, but that is not a fixed number. Leake last year signed for an over-slot $2.27 million, and the slot number is merely a recommendation from the commissioner's office.
Would Old Drayton pay the extra $270,000? I don't know, but if the difference in drafting a pitcher who never got out of Lancaster, and a pitcher who never spent a day in the minors was $270,000, I would defecate in my pants.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
