It's an exciting time to be a baseball fan. Not only is the All-Star break finally here, but Sunday marked Day 1 of the 2025 MLB draft.
The Houston Astros took full advantage of the opening rounds to restock their cupboards with a handful of prospects, landing Mount Vernon High School third baseman Xavier Neyens with the 21st overall pick before drafting LSU outfielder Ethan Frey at No. 95. With more picks to be made in the coming days, it's safe to say the Astros' future will only get brighter.
As it turns out, it didn't take Houston long to throw a bag of money at one of its newest prospects.
2025 MLB Draft: Astros Sign OF Prospect Ethan Frey to Above-Slot Contract
The Athletic's Chandler Rome is reporting that the Astros are signing Frey to "an above-slot deal" following the opening day of the 2025 MLB draft. According to Rome's sources, the up-and-coming outfielder will earn more than the $803,900 slot value assigned to him as the 95th overall pick.
Slot value is $803,900 for Frey's pick at 95. He's getting an above-slot deal, multiple sources said.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 14, 2025
Each year, Major League Baseball reveals slot values for every pick of the first 10 rounds of the draft, which are based on "matching growth in revenue sharing," according to USA TODAY. All 30 clubs have a pre-determined bonus pool they can spend on those picks, and the Astros entered this year's draft with $7,181,500 to spend — the fourth-smallest amount in the Majors.
The fact that the Astros signed Frey to an above-slot contract suggests that they like the 21-year-old OF a lot. Additionally, Rome added in a follow-up tweet that Houston may have paid more money to sign Frey immediately due to LSU's NIL spending ability.
It's going to be interesting to see if Frey will live up to the hype after having a bag thrown at him. The Leesville, LA native is coming off a career season with the Tigers that saw him slash .331/.420/.641 with 13 home runs, 50 RBIs, 29 walks, and four stolen bases in 62 games (181 at-bats). He's a big prospect (6-foot-6, 225lbs), leaving time to tell if the Astros will capitalize on his natural power.
With 17 more rounds to go, Houston is far from done replenishing its prospect cupboards. Who'll join Frey and Neyens as the next new faces in the pipeline remains to be seen as the 2025 MLB draft continues on Monday.