When the Houston Astros selected shortstop Carlos Correa first overall in the draft on Monday instead of pitcher Mark Appel, it came as a surprise. But no one ever thought the Astros would have trouble signing Correa to a contract. Sure enough, the talk was that Correa and the Astros would have a deal by the end of the week, and now we're just about officially there:
Astros owner Jim Crane says team has verbal agreement on contract with top overall pick Carlos Correa.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 6, 2012
Rumor has it an actual contract will be signed Thursday. The slot for the first overall pick carries a $7.2 million value, but Correa's supposedly going to sign for something in the neighborhood of $5 million, leaving the Astros more money to spend on their other top picks.
Sometimes, teams draft players who're difficult to sign. Sometimes, teams and players or player representatives get bitter with one another. Things between Correa and the Astros couldn't be going more smoothly, as the Astros surely knew would be the case ahead of time.