HOUSTON -- Getting drafted by the Astros was one thing. Signing your name on a contract, taking a physical and getting to go onto the field with the Major League team is what really made it all sink in for Astros first-round Draft pick Logan Hughes.
Hughes, taken by the Astros with the No. 17 overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft out of Texas Tech, and No. 28 overall pick Jack Radel, a pitcher from Notre Dame, both signed with the club Wednesday and met with Astros manager Joe Espada and some players at Daikin Park.
“It feels real,” Hughes said. “It happens on Draft day and you don’t know what to expect. It still feels like you don’t know what’s going to happen, but you sign that paper and you get that pen and it’s like, 'It’s ready to roll. Let’s get to work and get it done.'”
Hughes received a signing bonus of approximately $3.41 million and Radel received $3 million, according to a source. Both are below slot deals -- the value for the No. 17 pick is $4.87 million and the No. 28 pick is $3.36 million. The deadline for teams to sign their Draft picks is Monday.
“It’s been a roller coaster of emotions,” Radel said. “Just really excited to be here in Houston. It’s really cool. Having my family around me and meeting all the new guys and new staff is really exciting. Just overflowing with joy right now.”
The Astros will try to use those below-slot savings to sign four of the high school players they selected -- Georgia shortstop Keon Johnson (third round), Kansas infielder Beau Peterson (fourth round), Tennessee shortstop Jack Beck (13th round) and California shortstop James Tronstein (15th round).
Peterson is committed to Texas, while Johnson, Tronstein and Beck are each committed to Vanderbilt.
Hughes, a left-handed hitter, can play the corner outfield spots and also will get some time at first base in the Houston system, per Astros amateur scouting director Cam Pendino. Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 42 Draft prospect, Hughes batted .375 with 18 home runs and 70 RBIs last season at Texas Tech and showed good plate discipline with 50 walks and only 33 strikeouts.
“Just hope to get assigned somewhere and rake, keep raking and go from there,” said Hughes, whose mother sang the national anthem for more than a decade before Astros Spring Training games in Kissimmee, Fla. “I was hoping and dreaming of the ‘Stros, and just to get that call that they were picking me, it was exciting. It was a relief. It was awesome and everything I dreamed of.”
Radel, a 6-foot-5 right-hander from Sioux Falls, S.D., went 8-3 with a 3.29 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP and a .206 batting average against in 87 2/3 innings last season for Notre Dame, with 116 strikeouts and only 22 walks. He was ranked the No. 44 Draft prospect. Pendino said Radel had a “loud” fastball, which makes sense considering Radel wants to be another Nolan Ryan.
“I like to compare myself to Nolan Ryan,” Radel said. “That’s what I want to be when I grow up, when I get older. He’s a workhorse, he’s a bulldog on the mound. That’s kind of how I like to pitch.”
Notre Dame was the only school to offer Radel a scholarship, and he wound up being a perfect fit. Notre Dame coach Shawn Stiffler said Radel had a goal of blossoming into a Friday night starter in the ACC, which he did.
“They were strengths,” Stiffler said. “He moves well and the body was very projectable. But it was raw. He really didn’t come in with a breaking ball. He had one pitch, and it was his four-seam fastball and didn’t know what to do with it. He really bought it and year by year, week by week, day by day, put himself together into what you're seeing now.”