Today in news that we were hoping never to hear, Jon Heyman says that 2014 1-1 Brady Aiken has "an issue with his elbow ligament." The Astros had reportedly been close to finalizing a $6.5 million deal when Aiken arrived in Houston for physicals two weeks ago, but Heyman says that the Astros have revised that offer down to $5 million now.
In an effort to avert panic, it's worth noting that if a draft pick fails his physical, the drafting team can offer him as little as 40% of slot value - in Aiken's case, 40% of slot would be $3,168,840. So if Heyman's sources are accurate and the Astros are still offering $5 million, that would seem to indicate that the reported elbow issue is not as serious as it could be.
It is also worth noting that prior to the draft, ALL of the draft experts had Aiken at the top of their respective draft boards, which would not have been true if there were any questions about his health. Since the MLB Draft process does not include pre-draft physicals, this issue would have caught any team picking Aiken by surprise; it could have just as easily happened with Stephen Strasburg, David Price, or any other draft pick of your choice. But that doesn't mean the news sucks any less for the Astros.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
