Astros Select Aiken with First Pick in MLB Draft

A San Diego 17-year-old just became a millionaire. 

The Houston Astros selected lefty Brady Aiken with the first pick in the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft. In doing so, the Astros became the first team in Major League Baseball history to make the first selection three years in a row. The club picked Mark Appel in 2013 and infielder Carlos Correa in 2012. Aiken stands to make about $8 million if he agrees to sign with Houston.

“Aiken, 17, posted a 7-0 record and a 1.06 ERA in 11 starts in his senior season at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego,” the American League West team noted on its website. “He was a 2014 Perfect Game 1st Team All-American and an All Region 1st Teamer in California. Aiken, who is two months shy of his 18th birthday, led Team USA to the gold medal at the 18-and-under World Cup in Taiwan last September by winning both of his starts, including a championship-game performance against Japan in which he struck out 10 and allowed one run in 7.0 innings.”

Miami drafter Tyler Kolek, who reaches 100 mph on the radar gun, with the second pick, the White Sox selected southpaw pitcher Carlos Rodon next, and the Cubs took catcher Kyle Schwarber, the first position player drafted, with the fourth selection. Pitchers made up 21 of the first round’s 34 selections.

“We’ve been following Brady Aiken for a while now and we feel that he is a young, dynamic, high-upside, left-handed pitcher,” Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow gushed in an official statement. “I couldn’t be more excited for the Houston Astros and their future by adding this player to what already is a very strong system.”