Braves Top Draft Picks Eager To Sign Quickly

Good news for Braves fans this morning who like their draft picks to sign and sign quickly. It looks like Atlanta went with signability as a big factor for a lot of their early draft picks as the quotes below will illustrate.

From the Dallas News Sports Site, news that Braves' first pick in this year's draft, Matt Lipka, is all but signed:

A day after Lipka was selected with the 35th overall pick in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft, the former McKinney High School shortstop was waiting to finalize the terms of a contract that will pay him in the neighborhood of $1 million. In the living room, with the television humming in the background, he passed the time browsing the Internet, handling media requests and opening the new chapter in his life.

Good to know he is in the stages of "finalizing" his contract, since signability was one of the big reasons we drafted Lipka.

From a local news website comes this info that third-round pick Joe Leonard is eager to sign:

Leonard plans to bypass his senior season at Pitt in order to turn pro. He's thrilled to become a member of Atlanta's system.

"It's a really good organization, and I'm excited to be a part of it," Leonard said. "I'm going to try to work out a deal shortly."

Also good to know that he's ready to get going. I'm excited to see what Leonard can do. The Braves got really good value with this pick, and drafted a guy who brings good defense at the hot corner and a promising bat to the plate.

Keeping with the trend here, the Braves also look to wrap up their fourth-round selection, David Filak, quickly. From the Oneonta Daily Star:

Filak said he received a call from the Braves shortly before they drafted him, asking if he was willing to sign with Atlanta.

"They called to make sure," right-hander Filak said. "My advisor and I will work out a deal. Of course I'm going to go. The fourth round is incredible."

Filak, 20, said he will skip his senior year at Oneonta State to start his professional career.

"I'm definitely looking to sign," said Filak, a Burnt Hills graduate. "I'm not messing around. I'm a small-town kid. I'm fortunate to have this opportunity."

Filak is a strikeout machine, and another kid that I can't wait to see on the field. He's also someone who still has some projection in him.

The possible future college coach of second pick Andrelton Simmons expects that he will go pro as well, more here.

Here are the links to yesterday's draft coverage on Talking Chop, including reviews of every single draft pick:

First Pick
Second Pick
Rounds 2 - 7
Rounds 8 - 15
Rounds 16 - 30