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<!DOCTYPE html><html class="no-js" lang="en-US"><head><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=7YQSqjSh" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/","20160905093438","https://web.archive.org/","web","https://web-static.archive.org/_static/", "1473068078"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=p7PEIJWi" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>Aiken medical issue could be significant, or exaggerated by Houston to save money. | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com</title><meta charset="utf-8"><meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"><meta name="”robots”" content="”noodp”"><meta name="HandheldFriendly" content="True"><meta name="MobileOptimized" content="320"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"><meta name="google-site-verification" content="JTkOa1fDuGoZnj1zAjCzaqA-xURAD0upoPOesFaeS3k"/><meta name="verify-v1" content="6ylWgY9aqB0mJpcLJKDC73u2SDU/3xlc3MH+PxXmLRY="><meta name="y_key" content="f9413f5ffc5479bd"><meta name="msvalidate.01" content="2AF9F2CAA01E4774AB920A8D645E9566"><meta property="fb:app_id" content="227086564005280"><meta property="fb:admins" content="100000785675184"><meta property="fb:admins" content="1099254416"><meta property="fb:admins" content="1445562307"><meta property="fb:admins" content="3616480"><meta property="fb:admins" content="533618952"><meta property="fb:admins" content="778414772"><meta property="fb:pages" content="133508396112"/><meta name="description" content="The Houston Astros began grinding on Cathedral Catholic left-hander Brady Aiken even before they made him the first overall pick in last month’s draft. The Astros lowballed Aiken with their initial signing bonus offer. Houston is trying to discount Aiken’s bonus even more after a reported medical problem surfaced during tests. Did Houston really stumble onto something significant — an elbow ligament issue, as CBSsports.com has reported — or is all this a bargaining ploy by the Astros to save money on Aiken that can be allocated elsewhere?"/><link rel="canonical" href="/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/"/><link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://m.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438im_/http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/static/utsd/images/favicon.ico"><link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438im_/http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/static/utsd/v1/images/icon-apple-touch.png"><meta property="og:title" content="Aiken, Astros at odds over bonus"/><meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/"/><meta property="og:site_name" content="The San Diego Union-Tribune"/><meta property="og:type" content="article"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438im_/http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2014/06/13/Aiken_cover_tx201.jpg?a7afd4f196cc87f88131a6d97e3ddf50b1644c7d"/><meta property="og:description" content=" The Houston Astros began grinding on Cathedral Catholic left-hander Brady Aiken even before they made him the first overall pick in last month’s draft. The Astros lowballed Aiken with their initial signing bonus offer. Houston is trying to discount Aiken’s bonus even more after a reported medical problem surfaced during tests. Did Houston really stumble onto something significant — an elbow ligament issue, as CBSsports.com has reported — or is all this a bargaining ploy by the Astros to save money on Aiken that can be allocated elsewhere? 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class="row group" itemprop="mainEntityOfPage" itemscope itemtype="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/"><article class="span12 clearfix"><span class="so_promo_headline" data-sitename="tribune110316" style="margin: 0 10px 10px 10px; display: block;"></span><script src="//web.archive.org/web/20160905093438js_/http://api.solidopinion.com/widget/embed.js" async="async"></script><div class="breadcrumbs sports" itemscope itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Breadcrumb"><div class="content clearfix"><ul class="list-inline clearfix"><li><a href="/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/sports/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="title">Sports</span></a></li><li><a href="/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/sports/mlb/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="title">MLB</span></a></li></ul></div></div><hgroup><h1 itemprop="headline">Aiken, Astros at odds over bonus</h1><h2>Is medical issue significant or exaggerated by Houston to save money?</h2></hgroup><div class="byline clearfix"><div class="byline-info" itemprop="author" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><span class="author no-link" itemprop="name">By Kirk Kenney | U-T</span> | <span class="time">10 a.m.</span> <span class="date">July 12, 2014</span></div></div></article><section class="span9 col clearfix"><figure class="story-lead-photo clearfix"><div class="article-image" itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438im_/http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2014/06/13/Aiken_cover_r900x493.jpg?122770e84b36f1c039d5c4c2ca15c2d8bc4ecd52" alt="Cathedral Catholic senior Brady Aiken was chosen Player of the Year in baseball." class="story-image" itemprop="image"><figcaption itemprop="author" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"> Cathedral Catholic senior Brady Aiken was chosen Player of the Year in baseball. <em itemprop="name"> Misael Virgen</em></figcaption><div id="lb-photo1354365" class="photo_lrg " style="display: none;"><div class="ad-728x90"><div data-plugin="lazyad" data-slot="728x90_5" data-size="728x90"></div></div><section class="lb-story-inlines"><div class="article-image"><img alt="Cathedral Catholic senior Brady Aiken was chosen Player of the Year in baseball." src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438im_/http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2014/06/13/Aiken_cover_tx600.jpg?1cac1c26287decec7a3e591fce9b6936b1eddfe5"/></div><div class="caption-wrap clearfix"><div class="caption"><p> Cathedral Catholic senior Brady Aiken was chosen Player of the Year in baseball. <em></em></p></div><div class="simple-share"><p>Share Photo</p><div class="fixedbar"><ul id="toolbar-sharing"><li><a class="facebook ss-icon ss-social ss-social-regular" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/photos/2014/jun/13/1354365/&t=Check 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class="fixedbar" data-share="sharethis"><ul class="share_icons clearfix" data-plugin="sticky" data-parent=".story-wrap"><li class="fb-comment-box"><a class="comments" href="#comments-module" title="View comments on this article"><span class="comment-number"><fb:comments-count href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/">-</fb:comments-count></span></a><div class="comment-icon"><span class="ss-icon">💬</span></div></li><li><a class="facebook ss-icon ss-social ss-social-regular" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/?fbshare=1536011&t=Aiken, Astros at odds over bonus" target="_blank" title="Share this article on Facebook"></a></li><li><a class="twitter ss-icon ss-social ss-social-regular" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/https://twitter.com/share/?url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/&text=Aiken, Astros at odds over bonus&via=sdut" target="_blank" title="Share this article on Twitter"></a></li><li><a class="reddit ss-icon ss-social ss-social-regular" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/&title=Aiken, Astros at odds over bonus" target="_blank" title="Share this article on Reddit"></a></li><li class="email"><a href="#"><span class="st_email_custom ss-icon ss-social ss-social-regular" st_url="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/" st_image="http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2014/06/13/Aiken_cover_t300x300.jpg?71d93ecaa9bbe9e3ce5dfc157414b27a3490100e" st_summary="Aiken medical issue could be significant, or exaggerated by Houston to save money." st_title="Aiken, Astros at odds over bonus">✉</span></a></li><li><a class="print ss-icon" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/all/?print">⎙</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="story-copy clearfix" itemprop="description"><p>Brady Aiken wants to play hardball, but this certainly isn’t what he had in mind.</p><p>The Houston Astros began grinding on the left-hander from Cathedral Catholic High even before they made him the first overall pick in last month’s draft, lowballing Aiken with their initial signing bonus offer.</p><p>It is a tactic the Astros used effectively two years ago.</p><p>Houston is attempting to go one step further this time, trying to discount Aiken’s bonus even more after a reported medical problem surfaced during tests. </p><p>Did Houston really stumble onto something significant — an elbow ligament issue, as CBSsports.com has reported — or is all this a bargaining ploy by the Astros to save money on Aiken that can be allocated elsewhere?</p><p>Aiken, his parents and sister all were in Houston on June 23 for his signing. MLB.com reported Aiken had agreed to a $6.5 million bonus, even though the pick was slotted for $7.9 million.</p><p>Aiken was going to be introduced to fans and throw out the first pitch before an Astros-Braves game at Minute Maid Park. A ballpark souvenir shop even had Aiken jerseys ready to sell.</p><p>Everything unraveled before Aiken could — or would — sign.</p><p>According to CBSsports.com, the Astros dropped the bonus offer another $1.5 million, to $5 million, following the medical report.</p><p>Maybe it’s something. Maybe it’s not.</p><p>As would be expected, neither the Aikens nor the Astros are providing details on the situation. But don’t be surprised if this goes right up to the July 18 signing deadline before it is resolved.</p><p>Not to go all Oliver Stone here, but the $2.9 million Houston is trying to save on Aiken is almost the exact amount needed to sign two other high school pitchers — fifth-round pick Jacob Nix and 21st-round pick Mac Marshall.</p><p>“These are analytical people,” said an industry source. “They see players as assets.</p><p>“They’d rather allocate $6.5 million in the draft to two assets than one.”</p><p>And if it’s three assets, so much the better.</p><p>If the Astros pay $5 million to Aiken, then they can give $1.5 million apiece to Nix and Marshall. They can’t otherwise go over slot on Nix and Marshall, or the Astros will be penalized with the loss of a future draft pick.</p><p>This was awkward from the outset.</p><p>When the Astros contacted Aiken in the minutes leading up to the draft on June 5, they reportedly lowballed him with an initial offer of $5 million. Houston came up from there, but Aiken still wasn’t sure the Astros were going to select him when commissioner Bud Selig stepped to the podium to announce the pick.</p><p>“I actually did find out on TV,” Aiken said when interviewed by the MLB Network minutes after being selected. “We were going back and forth and we just found out. It was a crazy moment.”</p><p>The Astros were apparently just following a script similar to 2012, when they selected high school shortstop Carlos Correa. He received a $4.8 million bonus, when the pick was slotted for $7.2 million. Houston applied the money it saved on Correa to go over slot with a $2.5 million bonus to high school right-hander Lance McCullers Jr.</p><p>In a recent Sports Illustrated article, writer Bill Reiter was given extensive behind-the-scenes access with the Astros. It included a glimpse into Houston’s draft room.</p><p>Wrote Reiter, “the decision to select Aiken over (Tyler) Kolek, (Carlos) Rodon and (Alex) Jackson—who would be picked second, third and sixth, respectively—had not been a last-minute one.”</p><p>“We decided the morning of the draft,” Mike Elias, Houston’s director of amateur scouting, said in the SI story.</p><p>Of course, Houston played it like Aiken was among three or four players still in the mix on draft day when they lowballed him that evening.</p><p>The logic is that the bonus slots drop substantially — $6.8 million for the second pick, $5.7 million for the third pick, $4.6 million for the fourth pick, $3.85 million for the fifth pick, according to Baseball America — so sign for the lower amount rather than risk falling in the draft and making less, anyway.</p><p>That’s just negotiating as far as many organizations are concerned. To those not familiar with the process, it seems disingenuous.</p><p>What the Astros are trying to do now remains to be seen.</p><p>Do they truly believe that what was discovered in the medical tests is significant enough to warrant a discount, or did they just see an opportunity to save more money? Money that could be used for another signing coup.</p><p>Maybe it’s something. Maybe it's not.</p><p>Houston already had a deal in place with Nix, a right-hander from Los Alamitos High, for $1.5 million, some $1.13 million over slot.</p><p>Marshall, a left-hander from Parkview (Ga.) High, was projected as a second-round pick coming into the draft. He made clear his intention to attend LSU, however, and slid down the draft until the Astros took a chance on him.</p><p>Marshall was asking for a reported $1.5 million signing bonus, which is some $1.4 million over slot.</p><p>The Astros reconnected with Marshall two weeks ago, right about the time they would have been getting Aiken’s test results.</p><p>On Sunday, they asked Marshall to fly to Houston for a physical, but Marshall was already on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. It may be difficult to sign him now that he has begun to immerse himself in college life.</p><p>But back to Aiken.</p><p>He gained a national profile last summer during showcase events and while pitching for the U.S. National 18U team. The 6-foot-4 Aiken completed the 2014 season with a 7-0 record, 1.07 ERA, 111 strikeouts and 15 walks in 59 2/3 innings.</p><p>Aiken’s last appearance of the season came May 30 in a playoff game against Granite Hills. He threw six innings, allowed four hits, two runs, walked two and struck out 14.</p><p>“He topped out at 98 mph and showed no signs of discomfort,” said Granite Hills coach James Davis.</p><p>Said Cathedral Catholic coach Gary Remiker: “In terms of my experience with him this year, I would report him 100 percent healthy.”</p><p>The Houston Chronicle spoke with Aiken’s trainer, Paul Flores, owner of CrossFit East County, who called the pitcher “absolutely healthy.”</p><p>Aiken has reportedly continued to train and is still throwing bullpens.</p><p>None of this sounds like a pitcher with an elbow ligament issue.</p><p>Maybe it's something. Maybe it isn’t.</p><p>“Not every abnormality on the MRI is significant,” said Dr. Jan Fronek, an orthopedic surgeon at Scripps Clinic who has been a team physician the past 30 years with the Padres. “In every sport we see that individuals are performing and are virtually asymptomatic, yet there are some changes on the MRI.</p><p>“Again, one needs to look at the big picture and figure out what is a significant abnormality, what isn’t and how it all fits into the clinical interpretation.”</p><p>Dr. James Andrews, one of the nation’s most noted orthopedic surgeons, wondered a few years ago if MRIs could be misleading.</p><p>A New York Times story from 2011 detailed a study Andrews did in which he “scanned the shoulders of 31 perfectly healthy professional baseball pitchers. The pitchers were not injured and had no pain.”</p><p>The findings revealed abnormal shoulder cartilage in 90 percent of the pitchers and abnormal rotator cuff tendons in 87 percent of them.</p><p>So what Aiken’s deal hinges on is how accurate the tests were, and that’s open to interpretation. Obviously, the two sides don’t see eye-to-eye.</p><p>So here’s where things stand as the signing deadline approaches:</p><p>— If Houston doesn’t sign Aiken, then it will receive a compensation pick (second overall) in next year’s draft.</p><p>But if they don’t sign Aiken, then the Astros also won’t have the bonus money necessary to sign Nix and/or Marshall without being penalized.</p><p>— Aiken can accept Houston’s offer or go back into the draft next year (if he attends a junior college) or in three years (if he uses his scholarship to UCLA).</p><p>The biggest question is whether Aiken believes he can get a similar bonus if he waits.</p><p>And then there’s this: Has Houston so alienated Aiken that he now won’t sign at any price?</p><p>We'll find out.</p><p>Even if the two sides do end up coming to terms, is this really the way to begin a relationship?</p><p><em>Kirk.Kenney@utsandiego.com / on Twitter: @kirKDKenney</em></p><div class="clear"></div><div class="clear"></div></div></article><aside class="article-footer clearfix"><div id="comments-module"><div class="header clearfix solid"><div class="count"> 0 </div><h2>Comments</h2><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/commenting-rules/" target="_blank">FAQ'S</a>  |   <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/mailto:support@solidopinion.com" target="_blank">Support</a></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/commenting-rules/#rules" target="_blank">Commenting Rules</a>: Be relevant, respectful, honest, discreet and responsible</p></div></div><div class="clearfix mtop mbottom"><div class="so_comments" data-sitename="tribune110316" data-thread_url="/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/"></div><noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://solidopinion.com/">comments powered by Solidopinion.</a></noscript></div><script src="//web.archive.org/web/20160905093438js_/http://api.solidopinion.com/widget/embed.js" async="async"></script><div class="clear"></div><div id="comments-module"><div class="fb-hide"></div><div class="header clearfix"><div class="count"><fb:comments-count href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/">-</fb:comments-count></div><h2>Archived Comments</h2><p>Be relevant, respectful, honest, discreet and responsible. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/commenting-rules/">Commenting Rules</a></p></div><fb:comments notify="true" href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jul/12/brady-aiken-mlb-draft-houston-astros/" num_posts="10" width="100%" data-width="100%"></fb:comments></div><div id="taboola-below-article-thumbnails"></div><script type="text/javascript"> window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails', placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' }); </script><div id="taboola-below-article-text-links"></div><script type="text/javascript"> window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'hybrid-text-links-a', container: 'taboola-below-article-text-links', placement: 'Below Article Text Links', target_type: 'mix' }); </script></aside></section><div itemprop="publisher" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization" id="schema-code"><div itemprop="logo" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"><meta itemprop="url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/static/utsd/v1/images/sdut-logo.png"><meta itemprop="width" content="200"><meta itemprop="height" content="53"></div><meta itemprop="name" content="The San Diego Union-Tribune"><meta itemprop="url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/"></div><meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2014-07-12T10:00:01"/><meta itemprop="dateModified" content=""/><section id="sidebar" class="span3 col alpha omega"><div class="span12 col sidebar_ad_1"><div class="ad-300x250"><div id="dfp_300x250_1" data-slot="300x250_1" data-size="300x250"><script type="text/javascript">googletag.display('dfp_300x250_1');</script></div></div></div><div class="sidebar-modules span12 col"><h3>Top Stories</h3><ul><li class="top-stories clearfix"><a href="/web/20160905093438/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/sep/02/countries-languages-SD-Unified/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160905093438im_/http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2016/09/01/2466521_sd_me_language_grads003_r90x60.JPG?7f2dd0de9e2b91130e40a1d87b59fd8b0d6b509d" alt="Hoover High seniors Tullue Huka, left, and Alison Sanchez were able to opt out of the foreign language class requirement by proving the mastery of their native language by passing a test in it. 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