Astros reach settlement with Draft pick Nix

Jacob Nix, the Astros' fifth-round pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, has come to a settlement with the club over a grievance filed after he wasn't signed by Houston.

Nix, a right-hander out of Los Alamitos High School in California, reached an unknown financial settlement in the agreement.

Nix's situation became caught up in the Astros' attempt to sign left-hander Brady Aiken, the No. 1 selection in the Draft. When no agreement was reached with Aiken, it impacted the signing bonus money available for Nix.

Rather than exceed the dollars allotted for Nix's draft slot and get penalized by the forfeiture of future Draft choices, the Astros wound up not signing Nix. The MLB Players Association filed a grievance on Nix's behalf with Major League Baseball, but that grievance will now be dropped because of the settlement.

Nix initially had an agreement in place with the Astros and traveled to Houston for a physical exam, but that deal wasn't finalized after Aiken's original $6.5 million offer was withdrawn after Aiken's physical exam revealed what the club cited as some issues with the southpaw's pitching elbow. Houston later offered Aiken a $5 million deal, but he declined and Nix wound up without an offer of his own due to the reduced pool of signing bonus money.

Both Aiken and Nix had scholarship offers to UCLA last year, but Aiken will likely pitch at the junior college level next season and be eligible for the 2015 Draft.