The Pittsburgh Pirates will be signing 13th round pick Danny Collins, according to Collins himself on Twitter.
I am excited to announce that I will be forgoing my senior season and will be starting a new chapter in my life, this Wednesday. Go @Pirates
— Danny Collins (@dcbaseball202) June 10, 2013
Collins is a junior first baseman from Troy University, and hit for a .360/.452/.631 line in 236 at-bats last year with 11 homers. He has a quick bat, good hand-eye coordination, and has hit for power and average in his time in college. Kendall Rogers of Perfect Game felt the pick was a good addition by the Pirates.
#Pirates got a good one in the 13th round in #Troy's Danny Collins. Interesting. Drafted as a 1B. Really scrappy guy, big-time bat.
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 8, 2013
I’d expect to hear more players signing over the next day or two — especially the college juniors and seniors — as the Pirates start adding to their short-season teams. Michael Fransoso, a 27th round shortstop, is another player who will be signing in the next few days, although that’s to be expected since he’s a college senior. For draft signing rumors of other players, check out our update from yesterday.
UPDATE 6:48 PM: Add 12th round pick Beau Wallace to the group.
. @Pirates 12th round pick and former @HindsCCSports star Beau Wallace tells me he flies to Florida tomorrow for his physical.
— Stephen Gunter (@Stephen_Gunter) June 10, 2013
Wallace is an interesting third base prospect. He added some weight to his frame between 2012 and 2013, which might have paid off with the bat. His ISO went up from .107 to .212. He hits for average, and has good strike zone judgement. He’s also effective on the bases with 27 of 31 stolen bases in two years at Hinds CC.
That makes at least three guys who will be signing (Collins, Fransoso, Wallace), and there will be more.
UPDATE 7:18 PM: I guess we can add 23rd round left-hander Cameron Griffin to the list.
https://twitter.com/CamGriffin30/status/344231480433729536
Griffin throws in the low-90s with his fastball, but has some control problems. He’s a junior from Stetson University.
UPDATE 7:47 PM: I’ve confirmed that 18th round pick Jeff Roy will also be signing on Wednesday. Roy is a speedy center fielder who went 30-for-30 in stolen base attempts this year with Rhode Island. He’s great at getting on base, reaching base safely in 41 consecutive games in 2012. Roy should be a top of the order hitter somewhere in the system.
