BALTIMORE (AP) -The Baltimore Orioles and top draft pick Brian Matusz agreed to Friday to a four-year contract that guarantees him $3,472,500, making the left-hander the first selection this year to receive a major league deal.
The 21-year-old Matusz, the fourth overall pick in the 2008 amateur draft, faced a midnight deadline to reach an agreement. He spent three years at the University of San Diego, going 12-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 2008 as a junior.
He was selected West Coast Conference pitcher of the year after recording an NCAA-high 141 strikeouts.
Matusz finished the 2008 season as the school’s career leader in strikeouts (396). He tied the school’s single-game record with 17 strikeouts in a victory over Harvard on March 22.
Matusz gets a $3.2 million signing bonus payable through 2009 and is guaranteed $32,500 next year, $65,000 in 2010, $75,000 in 2011 and $100,000 in 2012. If he is in the majors, he would receive $425,000 next year, $500,000 in 2010, $550,000 in 2011 and $650,000 in 2012.
A native of Cave Creek, Ariz., Matusz was selected Arizona player of the year his senior season. He was originally selected in the fourth round of the 2005 draft by the Los Angeles Angels but elected to attend USD.
On draft day, Orioles scout Joe Jordan said of Matusz: “We’ve seen Brian since he was in high school and followed him. A lot of history. This was a tough pick, not because I didn’t like him, but because we had other players that we liked a lot as well. But Brian Matusz was a good selection for us.”
Matusz will join a pitching-rich minor league system that includes right-hander Chris Tillman, obtained from the Seattle Mariners in the Erik Bedard trade, and two pitchers taken in last year’s draft, Timothy Bascom (fourth round) and Jake Arrieta (fifth), who are part of Class-A Frederick’s starting rotation.
“He’s going to be one of our better pitching prospects when he signs,” Jordan said of Matusz.
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