The Chicago Cubs have thus far signed 15 players selected in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, including right-handed pitcher Paul Blackburn out of Heritage High School in Brentwood, Calif., who was drafted with the 56th overall pick (compensation round). But they haven’t landed their #1, Albert Almora, the #6 overall pick who appears destined to play hardball with the team.
He’s either not going to sign, and instead play college baseball, or his agent is just trying to aggressively negotiate with the ballclub. The Cubs have also not signed Rusty Sveum, the son of current manager Dale Sveum yet.
In addition, the list of Cubs signees thus far includes right-handed pitcher Josh Conway (fourth round), infielder Stephen Bruno (seventh round), left-handed pitcher Michael Heesch (eighth round) and catcher Chadd Krist (ninth round).
Blackburn, 18, went 8-3 with a 1.27 ERA for Heritage High School in 2012. He struck out 84 batters in 77.1 innings of work, good for an average of 9.8 strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched, while walking just 17 hitters. In May of this season, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Blackburn recorded his first career no-hitter, striking out eight and walking two in a 6-0 win over state-ranked Deer Valley of Antioch
The players highlighted in bold below have thus far signed with the Cubs ahead of the July 13 deadline.
Rd. (pick No.) Player Pos. School Birthday B T Ht. Wt.
1 (6) Albert Almora OF Mater Academy Charter School (Fla.) 4/16/1994 R R 6-2 180
1A (43) Pierce Johnson RHP Missouri State University 5/10/1991 R R 6-3 180
1A (56) Paul Blackburn RHP Heritage High School (Calif.) 12/4/1993 R R 6-2 185
2 (67) Duane Underwood RHP Pope High School (Ga.) 7/20/1994 R R 6-2 205
3 (101) Ryan McNeil RHP Nipomo High School (Calif.) 2/1/1994 R R 6-3 210
4 (134) Josh Conway RHP Coastal Carolina University (S.C.) 4/12/1991 R R 6-1 175
5 (164) Anthony Prieto LHP Americas High School (Texas) 11/16/1993 L L 5-11 170
6 (194) Trey Lang RHP Gateway CC (Ariz.) 5/18/1992 R R 6-3 225
7 (224) Stephen Bruno INF University of Virginia 11/17/1990 R R 5-9 175
8 (254) Michael Heesch LHP Univ. of South Carolina Beaufort 5/15/1990 R L 6-5 260
9 (284) Chadd Krist C University of California, Berkeley 1/28/1990 R R 5-11 190
10 (314) Chad Martin RHP Indiana University 5/17/1990 R R 6-7 230
11 (344) Rashard Crawford OF Mundy’s Hill High School (Ga.) 10/15/1993 S R 6-3 185
12 (374) Justin Amlung RHP University of Louisville (Ky.) 5/21/1990 R R 6-1 180
13 (404) Bijan Rademacher OF Orange Coast College (Calif.) 6/15/1991 L L 6-0 200
14 (434) Corbin Hoffner RHP St. Petersburg College (Fla.) 7/30/1993 R R 6-5 235
15 (464) Carlos Escobar C University of Nevada 12/31/1990 R R 6-2 185
16 (494) Michael Hamann RHP University of Toledo (Ohio) 1/1/1991 R R 6-3 170
17 (524) Nathan Dorris LHP Southern Illinois University 12/9/1990 L L 6-3 185
18 (554) David Bote INF Neosho County CC (Kan.) 4/7/1993 R R 5-11 170
19 (584) Damek Tomscha INF Iowa Western CC 8/27/1991 R R 6-2 200
20 (614) Blake Hickman C Simeon Career Academy (Ill.) 10/29/1993 R R 6-4 190
21 (644) Stephen Perakslis RHP University of Maine – Orono 1/15/1991 R R 6-0 185
22 (674) Eduardo Orozco RHP University of California Riverside 4/11/1989 R R 6-4
23 (704) Jake Drossner LHP Council Rock North High School (Pa.) 5/16/1994 R L 6-1 189
24 (734) Jameson Fisher C Zachary High School (La.) 12/18/93 L R 6-2 175
25 (764) Rhett Wiseman OF Buckingham, Browne & Nichols (Mass.) 6/22/1994 L R 5-11 187
26 (794) Jasvir Rakkar RHP SUNY Stony Brook (N.Y.) 4/27/1991 R R 6-2 200
27 (824) Tyler Bremer RHP Baylor University (Texas) 12/7/1989 R R 6-2 225
28 (854) Lance Rymel C Rogers State University (Okla.) 5/2/1990 R R 6-0 195
29 (884) Austin Pentecost RHP Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) 5/27/1990 R R 6-2 195
30 (914) Izaac Garsez OF College of Idaho 1/24/1990 L L 6-1 210
31 (944) Bryan Bonnell RHP Centennial High School (Nev.) 9/28/1993 L R 6-5 190
32 (974) Timothy Saunders INF Marietta College (Ohio) 5/17/1990 R R 6-0 180
33 (1004) Thomas Pannone OF Bishop Hendricken School (R.I.) 4/28/1994 L L 6-0 180
34 (1034) Christian Botnick RHP Notre Dame Catholic SS (Ontario) 10/5/1994 R R 6-3 195
35 (1064) Ben Carhart INF Stetson University (Fla.) 1/21/1990 R R 5-8 185
36 (1094) Sly Edwards OF St. Brendan High School (Fla.) 9/22/1993 R R 5-11 168
37 (1124) Clayton Crum RHP Howard College (Texas) 1/16/1992 R R 6-1 195
38 (1154) Hassan Evans OF Herkimer County CC (N.Y.) 12/15/1991 R R 6-3 200
39 (1184) Rustin Sveum INF Desert Mountain High School (Ariz.) 3/1/1994 S R 6-0 175
40 (1214) Jacob Rogers INF Mt. Olive College (N.C.) 8/23/1989 L R 6-4 215
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