The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed prep outfielder Conner Uselton, who was selected with the 72nd overall pick last week in the draft. Uselton made the announcement on Twitter this afternoon. You can read about him in the article posted last Monday after he was drafted. No bonus amount was announced and the Pirates likely won’t officially announce the signing until tomorrow. If a bonus figure comes out tonight, we will update it here.
It's official. Blessed to be apart of the @Pirates 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/rU3dLBcfVq
— Conner Uselton (@Conner1Uselton) June 20, 2017
Earlier today, the Pirates announced nine draft signings from last night.
UPDATE 7:15 PM: Calvin Mitchell has also signed. He was selected with the 50th overall pick. His draft announcement can be found here.
https://twitter.com/Calvinmitch_14/status/877302867434110976
UPDATE 7:50 PM: Tenth round pick Beau Sulser, a senior signing, received a $5,000 bonus, which is $129,200 under his slot amount.
UPDATE: 8:30 PM: Uselton signed for $900,000 according to Jim Callis.
Calvin Mitchell signed for full slot value, which was $1,357,300. Jim Callis again with the numbers.
UPDATE 9:30 PM: Fourth round pick Jason Delay is that rare senior that gets paid well. He got a $100,000 bonus according to Jim Callis
UPDATE 11:00 PM: Jonathan Mayo has the bonus info for ninth round pick Bligh Madris, and the Pirates saved a small amount on him. His bonus is $130,000, which is $12,700 under slot. We are only missing Blake Weiman among players who were announced as signed in the top ten rounds.
Draft tracker has been updated.
+ postsJohn started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
Uselton is… left handed? Thought he bats right though.
I just finally watched some video of Calvin MItchell and Conner Uselton. The impressions I got of the 2 were this.First, disclaimer, I am not a scout, nor am I a very good judge of talent in most cases. Please don’t destroy me for my opinions of what I saw.
Calvin Mitchell- I destined for LF or 1B. The arm didn’t look great on his throws, but there was little effort in his throw for as much as he loaded up to throw. The bat, on the other hand is going to be special. Lightning quick swing, granted everything I watched was BP and HR derby, but it was a very powerful compact swing. Seems to have good endurance also since he put in about 50 swings in the HR derby in about 4 minutes.
Conner Uselton- Has a bit of an arm bar in his swing. Seems to be overswinging a little to generate power. The bat is quick, but the swing still looked a little long. Probably not going to hit for a ton of power, but maybe 10-15 per year at his peak. In the field, he is a RF. His arm is an absolute cannon, to the point that if he can’t hit, he can probably make it as a pitcher. I am not sure what kind of 20-80 grade scouts would give it, but I would guess it is a 65 currently and could be a 70+ once he fills out.
The video’s had each of them running the 60, but Uselton was by himself with no clock showing, he seemed about average, maybe a tic above. Mitchell looked very fluid, but the guy next to him looked like he was about to fall down the entire time, and Mitchell only beat him by about 1 1/2 steps. Again, I would say his speed was about average, as there was no clock on this one either.
Overall, I like both of them. That is not to say either is a sure fire major leaguer, but they both have average to better tools across the board, and each has at least one that is above to well above average.
Did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express?
No, I stay at my house.
Like those big smiles. Happy for them and bucs fans.
So, explain Susler to me. What does he get out of it? 5k plus a look this summer? I’m guessing he was never thought to be drafted at that 125 minimum after round 10?
He’s a senior who probably would have got $5,000 to sign in the later rounds. The team calls him and asks if he is willing to sign for $5,000, he says yes, and he can now say he was a tenth round draft pick instead of a 32nd rounder
Makes sense. So they’re pretty much set 1-10.
Busby isn’t signed, but that’s not possible because his team is still playing. Pass it on to anyone you know, players usually wait at least a week after their season ends before they sign. So don’t ask about him until a week has passed after FSU plays their last game.
I will pass it on. I just told my wife about the waiting a week since she was sitting next to me when I read your comment. She…..didn’t care. But if you’re busy writing an article and someone asks in the comment section I promise to spread the word so you don’t have to repeat it over and over.
Thanks deacs for passing it along to me. Should I pass it along also?
I must have received 50 questions on Waddell signing while he was in the College World Series. I think he waited all of eight days
My cousin went to UVA so I’m sure I asked on my behalf or his.
well how about jennings, he was a sure thing 2 days ago.
Jennings has said he is signing. Not everyone flies in that day, he may have high school graduation still. They haven’t announced a lot of people who were supposed to sign today, he may be among them. We have 12 people listed as signed, but the number is 20-25 range, just don’t have official word yet.
black bear lineup with apologies to joey ramone 2nd verse same as the first
Two changes from yesterday