I don't ask much of the hometown nine. (I know, I've started many articles just like that this season. Go with it). One thing I do expect? When you draft a guy, act like you were super-excited he fell to you and get fans pumped up about his future, don't let him sign with an independent league team.
That's all.
It's not much, is it?
As I've mentioned a couple of times this week, I've been moving for about the past 10 days, so I haven't always been able to see news as it's breaking. I had just a little time yesterday morning to look through my RSS feed before I trucked back north for another load of stuff and was dumbstruck with the report via MLB Trade Rumors that Springer may sign with the independent Long Island Ducks.
This is completely a negotiating strategy, but it should tell you something that Springer wants to sign with an independent league team and forego his senior year at UConn. Let me repeat that...Springer would rather sign with an independent league team right now than play his senior season in college. Does that tell you how much he wants to go pro? Actually, I have no idea why Springer would do this. His best shot at being drafted higher and getting more money is by going back to college. By signing with an independent league team, he'd most likely fall further in the first round next season.
What the heck, Astros? What the heck, Bobby Heck? Is it the money? Are you having problems getting a deal done because of Jim Crane's tenuous position as owner? Are we really going to have to wait until the deadline before we get a deal?
What this does is show us that Springer's deal isn't basically done and just waiting for the commish to sign off on it. For some reason, Houston's playing hard ball with Springer's representatives. It's not the hamstring, but I wonder if it shows why Houston likes signing guys who they have more info on their demands first. Houston didn't think Springer would fall to them, so they may not have figured out what it'd take to sign him as much as guys like Adrian Houser.
Regardless, the Astros need to sign Springer. With Altuve and Lyles sitting in the majors, Springer would almost assuredly take over as the No. 1 prospect in the organization. Just get him signed already.