Houston Astros sign Mark Appel as top pick in 2013 MLB Amateur Draft – MLB news
The only advantage Houston Astros have had due to their last two torrid years has been getting to pick the first player in the amateur draft by the MLB that takes place in every June. They had their pick in the 2013 draft and they opted for Mark Appel.
The Astros have mulled over the Stanford pitcher for a while now. The Astros are pretty confident that they will be able to sign the Houston native.
The signing bonus is likely going to be in excess of $7.7 million, all the more reasons for Mark to go with the ballclub. The Astros intend to have him added to the Minors this summer.
Jeff Luhnow, the general manager for the Astros, felt that the player should soon be a part of the Astros’ organisation and there should not be any real trouble in getting him on board.
“I'm very confident that Mark Appel is going to put on an Astros uniform,” Luhnow said. “He's from here, he wants to play here, he's been selected first in the Draft. All the indicators are pointing in the same direction.”
He also said that it should be a straight forward decision for the pitcher who should be headed to the Houston ballclub’s Minor League System pretty soon.
Appel himself was not short on excitement as he has a long history with the Houston area where his parents were born and raised and he himself lived for a few years before his family moved.
“It's incredibly special,” said. “We're a tight family. Both my parents were born [in Houston] and raised there, and I lived there for 12 years before moving to California. All my family lives there. It's very exciting.”
Scott Boras who is confident that the matter should be settled easily with the Houston Astros represent Mark. He said that he has already conversed with Jeff Luhnow and he feels that the matter should be quickly wrapped up.
The lone advantage that the bottom of Major League Baseball team has is the fact that they get the first pick in the Amateur Draft. By the look of things, Astros may have struck gold.
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