PITTSBURGH (AP) -The Pittsburgh Pirates and No. 2 overall pick Pedro Alvarez agreed to a minor-league contract with a $6 million signing bonus Friday night just before the midnight deadline.
“Pedro Alvarez is an accomplished college hitter with the potential to be a middle of the order bat at the major league level for us,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said in a statement. “Equally important, he is a quality young man who comes from a very strong family. We appreciate their trust in the Pirates organization. Pedro is a high-end talent. We are excited to add him to our system and about the potential impact he can have.”
The signing bonus is the largest ever given to a Pirates draft choice.
A 21-year old third baseman, Alvarez spent three years at Vanderbilt University and hit .317 with nine home runs and 30 RBI sin 40 games. He missed six weeks with a broken hamate bone in his right hand, though Pittsburgh expressed no concern about his injury on draft day.
Alvarez, a left-handed hitter, was selected a first-team All-American by Baseball America as a sophomore, when he hit .386 with 18 home runs and 68 RBIs. He was chosen the National Freshman of the Year by Baseball America after hitting .329 with a school-record 22 home runs and 64 RBI.
Alvarez, who was represented by Scott Boras, received a signing bonus just less than the $6.15 million received by top pick Tim Beckham from Tampa Bay.
“(Pirates owner) Bob Nutting has made a commitment to provide the club with the tools and resources necessary to return the Pirates to the greatness that this organization has achieved so often in its rich history,” Pirates president Frank Coonelly said. “He has further demonstrated that commitment by his active involvement throughout this process and by providing us with the significant dollars necessary to sign Pedro Alvarez.”
Born and raised in New York, Alvarez went to the Horace Mann School, known more for scholars than athletes. He was selected in the 14th round of the 2005 draft by the Boston Red Sox, but elected to go Vanderbilt.
Pittsburgh failed to sign second-round draft pick Tanner Scheppers, a right-hander pitcher out of Fresno State.
“It became clear that Tanner’s financial expectations were not in line with the risks presented by Tanner’s current status as a pitcher in the early stages of a rehabilitation program following an injury to his throwing shoulder,” Huntington said. “Unfortunately, Tanner’s rehabilitation program timeline changed dramatically from what his representative presented to us prior to the draft. Had Tanner been able to demonstrate that he was fully recovered from the injury he suffered towards the end of his 2008 season at Fresno State, we are confident that we could have found common ground on the economic terms of a contract.”
Pittsburgh and 20th-round draft pick Quinton Miller agreed to a minor league contract with a $900,000 signing bonus.
On Thursday, the Pirates agreed to a contract with sixth-round pick Robbie Grossman, giving the high-school outfielder a $1 million signing bonus.
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