According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo, the Astros are nearing a deal with Appel:
Here's a quote from Jeff Luhnow:
"He and I both understand this is a long-term working relationship, and that the goal is for his client to play in Houston for a long time," Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said earlier this week. "For either of us to risk that for some short-term gain is not wise. We both know that. I think Scott is very good at what he does. He advocates for his players and gets great deals. We're good at what we do, too."
The article indicates that Mark Appel could be looking at a contract twice what he was offered last year by the Pittsburgh Pirates who offered him $3.8 million to sign. Most of the signed draftees have been tight lipped about what they've signed for, however, we've heard that Vanderbilt stars Conrad Gregor has signed for slot value and Tony Kemp has signed for significant money (H/T Astros County). It sounds like most of the draftees are signing for around slot, which concerns me regarding getting someone like Austin Nicely sign who was given several gold stars by scouts as a player they expect to exceed expectations.