BALTIMORE (AP) -The Baltimore Orioles and first-round draft pick Matt Wieters agreed to a contract with a $6 million signing bonus shortly before Wednesday’s midnight deadline.
Wieters was the fifth overall selection in the June draft. The 21-year-old catcher batted .358 with 10 homers and 59 RBIs in 56 games with Georgia Tech this season.
He refused to speculate on where he would land in the Orioles’ organization or when he would play in the majors.
“Right now we still have to get the physical done and we’ll decide where to go from there,” Wieters said Thursday. “(I’ll) just work hard and see how it goes.”
In three seasons with the Yellow Jackets, he hit .359 with 35 homers and 198 RBIs. In 2006, he joined Jason Varitek as the only catchers in Georgia Tech history to earn first-team All-America honors. He was also the Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year in 2005.
Wieters is a graduate of Stratford High School in suburban Charleston, S.C., where he was a four-year starter.
Wieters said because of his father, who played in the minor leagues, “my passion for baseball has always been huge. … There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.”
The catcher was relieved, he said, when the deal was completed.
“You get the sweaty plams, you get nervous,” Wieters said. “Now that the business side is done, I’m just looking forward to getting out and playing.”
Wieters said the Orioles organization has made it clear to him that they want to compete with Boston, New York and Toronto in arguably the toughest division in the American League.
“They kind of convinced me that they’re moving toward wanting to win in the future,” he said. “You always want to play on a winning club, and I think they’re starting to take the right stride, to move that way and hopefully I can help that out a little bit.”
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