NDFA signee OF Jaxon Hallmark is a Midland native who was a starter from day #1 for Nebraska once he set foot on the Lincoln campus. And he showed a lot of positional versatility for the Cornhuskers–over 4 seasons he made 78 starts in CF, 32 starts at 2B, 17 starts in RF, 14 starts in LF, 5 starts at 3B and 1 start at SS (he also got on the mound for 9 appearances). He struggled a bit offensively in 2018 and 2019 with a combined line of .249/.356/.328. But he turned it around starting with the abbreviated 2020 season and over his last 58 games posted a much healthier .346/.406/.543 line and was 17-4 in steal attempts. Joins Jake Meyers and Scott Schreiber as other former Husker outfielders in the system. Listed at 5’10" 175 lbs.
NDFA signee RHP Bryan Perez was at Cal State - Bakersfield as a freshman in 2020 where he pitched just 5 innings before the season came to an early close. Transferred to Glendale CC for 2021 but didn’t pitch for the Vaqueros as again COVID shut the season down. Report from March says his FB tops out at 92 with 2333 rpm spin and has a 82-83 mph SL with 2612 rpm spin rate. Listed at 5’11".
Updated for the reported signing of 15th rounder Adrian Chaidez and the reported bonuses for both he and 14th rounder Bryant Salgado. 16 of 19 draft picks now signed along with 8 NDFAs.
Linn is expected to enroll at Tulane instead of signing a professional contract, at least according to one of the Boston papers. I’m wondering if the ~ $347k the Astros could offer him (slot value + savings + overage) is enough to pry him away from that commitment.
ICYMI, Rocker’s physical turned up an elbow problem and now there’s a question whether the Mets will sign him.
Any reporting on Ulloa’s demand? Was he expected to go higher? I never got that sense, but I don’t follow it that closely.
Shorty after the draft he was quoted as saying he had verbally agreed on a deal. So now you start to wonder if there was an issue with his physical. I still think he gets signed though.
He didn’t slide. Just the opposite if you go by the pre-draft boards from MLB Pipeline and BA. Went significantly higher than expected.
I think Ulloa, at least at this point in his career, is more high floor than high ceiling. This was instructive from his BA write up:
“Ulloa is the sort of high school profile that many clubs like but would prefer to let go to college and prove his hitting ability. He is committed to Oklahoma State.”
I also think he doesn’t sign an over slot deal and there’s something in the works for a late rounder like Jackson Linn.
Callis also reported earlier today that 19th rounder Hector Nieves had been signed for $180K which means 17 of 19 picks signed. Plugging that in to my spreadsheet shows that the Astros have $660,130 (492,700 + 20,400 + 147,030) available to sign Ulloa. And we’ll know if that happens in about 17 hours…
Ulloa wasn’t signed
Only 2 other picks in the top 10 rounds did not sign (one being Rocker)…
20th rounder Jackson Linn did not sign either.
Really surprised by that. Neither Ulloa nor Linn seemed like guys the Astros couldn’t sign.
Really disappointing on Ulloa. Not a good look not signing your 4th round pick when you already were missing 1st and 2nd round picks.
1 Like
Agree 100%. Ulloa and Linn are two guys the Astros should’ve signed, perhaps even needed to given the state of the farm system.
The just-published BA transactions page reported a new NDFA signing. I’ve updated the list below (and will do a write-up on the new guy shortly). So that gives the Astros a total of 26 draftees (17) and NDFAs (9) signed. Of those there are 15 RHPs, 1 LHP, 5 OFs, 1 3B and 4 2B/SS. And by school there are 2 HSers, 2 JUCOs, 19 D1 players, 2 D2 players and 1 D3 player.
What is it that the Astros have against Left handed pitchers?