Astros come to agreement with 1st Rounder Jiovanni Mier: Implications for the Astros future.

Bobby Heck and company can add another feather to their cap with this signing, which is is pending a physical, which will be performed in Houston on Friday.  That brings the total to 34 out of 50 draftees (to the best of my knowledge), and six of the first seven picks.  That's an astounding accomplishment and one that shows that the thrust of the organization, going forward, is one that will emphasize more cost effective ways of building champions.  While Mier has yet to prove anything in professional baseball, and though the rest of his peers are just getting underway, Heck's intent to sign and stock the farm system can only add to the probability that the Astros have a depth of of freely available talent waiting in the wings.  However, the credit that Heck has won from the early returns on last year's draft class is reason enough to hope that the future of the Astros could easily be Castro, Seaton, Lyles, Mier, Meyer, etc.  

Rampant speculation aside, the benefit of achieving a high success rate in draftee signings is mainly signaling.  With aggressive promotions of our farmstros this season and the proclivity to sign draftees demonstrated, Houston is likely becoming a welcome place to toil the farm.  If Ed Wade accomplishes nothing more in his tenure as the Astros GM than bringing in Bobby Heck and revamping this aspect of organizational philosophy, I'll speak fondly of him for the rest of my life.

To what we know of Mier's deal:

Mier will collect a $1,358,000 signing bonus, which is significantly cheaper than Castro's $2.07 million from a year ago.   Mier had this to say:

"We finally came to a deal," Mier said from his home in California. "I'm glad we came to a conclusion and my [agents] got it done. I'm trying to get out there and play."

I guess the only question remaining, is where does he start out at?