Appel Rejected $6MM Bonus From The Astros

Tom Krasovic has tweeted that Stanford right handed pitcher and Pirates first round draftee Mark Appel turned down a potential $6MM bonus from the Houston Astros, which then led the Astros to select Carlos Correa as the first overall pick. If this report is correct, Appel and advisor Scott Boras will have to drop their demands if the pitcher is going to enter the professional ranks this year.

The Pirates have a bonus pool of $6.6MM, so it will be virtually impossible for the Pirates to offer him close to $6MM without incurring future draft pick penalties – something that the front office will refuse to do. The reason for why he would reject the offer is unknown, though I would guess that his “advisor” Scott Boras will be directing his clients to hold out for the slot recommendation – if not asking for more. However, in this scenario it has to be noted that only one other team could offer him more and not go over the slot recommendation (the Minnesota Twins with the second overall pick valued at $6.2MM), so Appel and Boras were really at a poor negotiating position for the pitcher to turn down this offer. What this could end up highlighting is the big drop off of slot recommendations between the early selections in the draft.

If that asking price does not drop, he won’t be signing with the Pirates. That said, I fully believe that Appel will be signed by the July 13th deadline – and I do think that the figure will be at (or slightly above) the recommended slot bonus of $2.9MM or will total the remaining budget after all other picks have been signed (dragging the signing out until the deadline). This is party after viewing the draft strategy so far on day two, as there will be very little money remaining after the players picked so far have been signed, though I doubt that the front office have altered their approach in light of the Appel selection.

Edit: Krasovic now states that Appel and the Astros did not have any financial discussions.