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http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/case ... ken-071414

An interesting story, and makes one think of the Bickford situation. I guess Hoffman and Hollon have no case, since their situations were known prior to being drafted.

The draft makes no sense. One pool regardless of whether guys sign or not (different amount for each team as it is now). Nix is the one really getting **** here.

The Astros are a mess. What are Jeff Luhnow and company doing? I honestly believe they are lowballing Aiken trying to get him way underslot to sign Nix and Marshall like the magic they did two years ago getting both Lance McCullers and Rio Ruiz to go with Carlos Correa really underslot. Its's a shame really. Aiken was their clear cut pick to go number 1 and initially offered him 5 mill for the 7 mill or whatever slot it is to go first overall in blind think letting Aiken and his agent think they're were other candidates to go 1st Overall even though there's nothing with that but when Aiken and his agent stuck to their guns and they came to an agreement on 6.5 mill, this has to happen. Hopefully if this keeps up to the deadline, MLB launches an investigation and if the Astros indeed are tampering with negotioating rules should be punished accordingly.The Astros rebuild was something really interesting to watch but they've really become the laughingstock of baseball with what's gone on with the Ground Zero debacle to now this.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JimBowdenESPNxm/status/490243758815215616[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/490246655783223296[/tweet]\

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/490247133539221504[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/490243992307912704[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jimcallisMLB/status/490244824495554562[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/aaronfitt/status/490244339935629312[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BenBadler/status/490244362702684161[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/490245060009529345[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/490246315604185089[/tweet]

That is greasy as **** Astros. I thought Beede was dumb for leaving our offer on the table for 3 years of college, but I hope Aiken pitches in juco and is healthy all year and goes #1 to a non Astros team next summer.

Fairview4Life wrote:That is greasy as **** Astros. I thought Beede was dumb for leaving our offer on the table for 3 years of college, but I hope Aiken pitches in juco and is healthy all year and goes #1 to a non Astros team next summer.

Agreed. While I generally am a 'take the money and run' guy, Aiken and Casey Close had to do this...had the Astros been able to leverage their fkery with Aiken and Nix (especially the latter; no one got screwed worse here) to get a significant discount, it would have set a terrible precedent in a process that already is drastically tilted toward the teams.

The Astros are going to have a really fun time now, though. Luckily for them, they don't sign free agents. Unfortunately for them, they are looking to build through top draft picks, and top picks are represented by top agents; they might have a bit of trouble getting full value for the two top five selections they're likely to have next season. There might not be an agent more respected than Close these days, and consequently they'll have a wee bit of difficulty convincing potential draftees that he was the problem.

Oh, and if he's with the club by the time the off-season rolls around, Dexter Fowler's (repped by Close) fourth-year-arb hearings could be slightly nasty.

That's another thing. This isn't Boras or someone the media would immediately deride. At least the Astros haven't ratted on him to the NCAA yet, in case he wants to go to UCLA.

I hope the Astros realize how much they just ****ed over their organization by pissing off the MLBPA, good luck ever signing a free agent again.

There's a Sports Illustrated magazine with the Astros on the cover, calling them the 2017 World Series champions. Yup, these guys.