Confirming our rumor from yesterday, Perfect Game USA’s Kendall Rogers (who has first reported a number of draft signings this year) is reporting that Chicago Cubs’ 14th round pick Dillon Maples did not show up for UNC football practice today, has taken a physical with the Cubs, and is signing for “huge” money.
It was expected to take a “huge” sum to sign high school All-American pitcher Maples, who was committed to play baseball and football at UNC this year.
Maples was as first round talent, who slipped because teams felt he would not forgo his commitment to UNC for any amount of money. Well, soon we’ll find out just what his price was
Kudos to the Cubs for stepping up on Maples, and others in what is quickly becoming a tremendous draft.
UPDATE (10pm CST): Keith Law has been saying on Twitter that a deal is not done, and that the chances of a deal getting done for Maples are low. We probably aren’t going to get definitive word until tomorrow. But, if Maples falls through, that would be a serious drag after having such high hopes.
This is shaping up to be the Cubs version of the Bears 1983 draft.
So World Series in 2013?
Now you’re talking. Wait ’til the year after next year!
Love it. We say we want the Cubs to make sweeping changes? This is a great start! Not all of these guys will pan out but you’ve got to start loading the system with talent so you can hit the jackpot on a couple.
I realize this is redundant, but any word (rumour or otherwise) on the other hard-to-sign kids?
Zych (4th rounder) just signed for late second round money. Dunston is expected to sign. Jacquez remains iffy.
God, I hate the Bears.
What? We reserve the right to revoke your Cub-fan license for being disloyal to Chicago sports. How can you love the Cubs but hate the Bears? Just the thought of such a thing is beyond my comprehension. Now, if you hate football all together, and you are the supreme baseball loyalist… well in that case, your license status will be reviewed by the board of directors… of which Ditka is a member, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up.
Careful there, Hardtop. Native Nashvillian here who only followed baseball until we got the Titans and Predators… so WGN got me hooked on the Cubs growing up. Now it’s Cubs, Titans, Predators for me…
God bless WGN for bringing the misery of Cub fandom into living rooms around the country.
Okay, enough about football,: this is a Cubs blog and we have a GM and coach criticize (anonymously… on the internet… to one another).
p.s. enjoy greg olsen.
i live in Indianapolis so ,god bless WGN, they pulled me in when i was 10yrs old ..Bears suck, Colts are badass
From Alaska. It was either the Cubs on WGN or Braves on TBS. Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace made the decision for me. Been miserable ever since.
WGN, Making a Whole Generation Miserable
Your post gave me a thought. The call letters WGN were sometimes an acronym for World’s Greatest Newspaper (The Trib’). How about we come up with an acronym for ‘GN that relates to the Cubs?
We’re Going Nowhere! Win? Gonna Never.
World’s Greatest… Nevermind.
Worlds Greatest Narcotic
I like your’s better.
We’re Growing Numb
We Get Nothing
Who’s Gonna Notice?
Where Goats Nest
LMFAO “Where Goats Nest”. Can’t believe I didnt think of that. I was thinking about, “We’re Gonna Nap” but that is awesome.
How is Keith Law the only person still reporting signing Maples is “unlikely”?
He’s either way out of the loop, or knows something that no one else does. Given how much he hates the Cubs, I’ll vote the former until I hear otherwise.
call him up.
Starting to lose hope on Jacquez….
jacquez_ricky Ricky Jacquez
Can’t wait to be on campus on Thursday and become a Longhorn!
hopefully last minute posturing, but this might be the one that slips through the cracks. I guess if we had to lose one, he’s the least likely to pan out. 97mph out of a 5’9″ pitcher is a TON of stress on the elbow and shoulder
Yeah, I tend to think you don’t post something like that if you’re just having some fun with the process. I tend to think he’s doing some hardcore negotiating (which means he isn’t close to signing), or he’s moved on. Bummer.
Ok I am confused is Cubs 2011 13th round pick name Trey or Darien Martin I have seen both is one a nickname. It’s funny Kendall Rogers says he just found out he signed a couple days ago try 3 weeks ago he has 41 at bats already for Arizona Rookie Team
This seems to happen every year with a kid or two who use nicknames (I remember when the Cubs drafted Kenneth McNutt, and also drafted Trey McNutt). I assume it’s the same kid. I think Rogers was saying he just found out that the signing bonus was $250k, which is solidly over slot.
his real name is darien he goes by trey
Thats true w/nicknames and yeah reading the post from Kendall he did say Darien (Trey ) Martin signed a few days ago and added that he just found out what the signing bonus is
@KendallRogersPG Kendall Rogers
The #Cubs and 2nd-rounder Dan Vogelbach, a #Florida signee, have agreed to a deal. Now comes the signing part. #mlbdraft #MLB #Gators
The deal, if approved, is worth around $1.6 million for Vogelbach
Very Nice Deal for Vogelbach
That very nice and what I figured it would take. question: does anyone know how long a player has to stay with a team to get that bonus? Could a HS player sign, play for a year and then walk away. If they went to college could they still pay ball or once they sign they cannot play.
I don’t know about the length, but once he signs a professional contract, he’s not eligible to play college baseball anymore. He has given up amateur status. I think NAIA and some junior college leagues might let him play, but a baseball prospect would be better off playing professionally somewhere at that point.
Once u signed a professional contract with a Baseball team you can’t go back to play ball in college in the sport u signed the professional contract with..
Yes, I hate the Bears. They only thing I hate more than the Bears is hearing about ’85. And that’s usually drunken blabbering from some 48 year old Homer. I am loyal to the Cubs, yes. But Is watch figure skating before I’d tune in for a Bears game.
I guess that means you don’t want to hear about the 1985 Bears beating their playoff opponents a combined 91 – 10 either.
go dolphins.
How do you feel about the 1963 Bears. Great Team !!!
Callis says the Vogelbach deal is done, indeed for $1.6 million. Slot was just $537k, so clearly the Cubs like him. Pre-draft, if I remember correctly, he was telling folks he wouldn’t sign for less than $1.8 million.
Best D’ ever. Never should’ve gotten rid of Ditka. Current ownership/management comparable to Cubs.
KendallRogersPG Kendall Rogers
The #Cubs are a busy organization. They’ve also signed 10th-round pick and #KennesawState signee Daniel Lockhart. $ coming. #mlbdraft
Good one!
Brett,
Any updates on signings? Are Baez and Dunston going to be Cubs soon?
No updates yet. Baez is expected to sign any time now (if he hasn’t already), and folks are generally still optimistic on Dunston. Most folks are now saying Jacques won’t sign.
Brett,
If the Cubs are able to sign both Dunston and Baez and Jacques goes to school instead, will Jacques then before the only “hard to sign” pick that they weren’t able to get signed?
Yes, he’d be the only one who was getting serious discussion immediately after the draft (there are a couple others who were tougher signs that look like they won’t sign, but no one on the level of Dunston/Vogelbach/Maples/Jacquez).
Thanks. Besides, Baez and possibly Dunston, do you expect any other higher picks to sign tonight?
No expectation. A tiny bit of hope for Jacquez and a couple others, but I think it’s likely to be Baez and that’s it.
Just saw a tweet that they signed Shawn Dunston Jr.
The Cubs have signed Shawon Dunston, Jr. for $1.275 million. Sweet. More on that signing, and others in the morning when they’ve all rolled in.
Note for those waiting up until the midnight deadline, some of the deals won’t be announced until tomorrow.
Brett, did you see that Ricketts is going to give a State of the Cubs address within the next 10 days. Guessing he’s going to address whether Hendry will be with us next year. Very interesting. This was according to Bruce Levine.
I did see that. I’ll have some thoughts on it tomorrow (which is shaping up to be a very busy day). I kind of doubt it will be as explicit as “Jim Hendry will return” or “Jim Hendry is fired,” but I do think it’s going to be more than pure fluff.
Keith Law is saying on Twitter that a deal is not done for Maples, and the chances a deal gets done are low. Updated the post to reflect the new info. Hopefully Law is wrong.
The #Cubs signed 14th-rdr #UNC signee and pitcher Dillon Maples for $2.5 million. #mlbdraft #MLB #Chicago per Kendall Rogers Twitter
Take that Keith Law !!!!!!!!!
The most exciting day so far for the 2011 Chicago Cubs – oh, that’s so sad.