Austin fits in Nicely with Houston Astros

A day after inking first overall draft pick Mark Appel to an underslot deal, the Astros quickly turned to 10th round pick Austin Nicely and his contract negotiations.

The 10th round pick was presumed to be a tough sign and would require an overslot deal to get him into the system and away from his University of Virginia commitment. Terms of his contract haven't been released at this time so it's unsure of how overslot the deal is and how much remains in cap room for other picks.

Nicely has had a lot of interest surrounding him after the famed Luhnow Code revealed he has a lot of area scouts having a gut feeling that he will exceed expectations and be a good major league pitcher. He is rumored to have good stuff and be a phenomemal athlete. However, he had very limited exposure due to a back injury keeping him out of the showcase circuit last summer.

He is set to head to Florida where he will begin his career for the Gulf Coast League Astros.

UPDATE: Jim Callis reported that his signing bonus is $610,000. His slot value was $139,400. Thats $470,600 over slot and takes away about a third of the $1.5M cap room that Appel's signing allowed. There is still a lot of money remaining to get prospects like Devonte German signed.