The Chicago Cubs have signed a handful of their 2012 Draft picks already, but one of the bigger fish just dropped. Announced by himself on Twitter (hooray future!), supplemental first round pick Pierce Johnson says he’s signed with the Cubs:
Just signed with the Chicago Cubs! Thanks to God, family, teammates, coaches, and friends. If it wasn’t for you guys I wouldn’t be here!
It’s just one Tweet, but he already sounds like a great kid. It’s great to have him in the fold.
Johnson, taken second to Albert Almora by the Cubs, was the 43 overall pick in the Draft, though most ranking services had him as a top 35ish talent. Most believed he would have been a first round pick if it hadn’t been for an early season forearm injury (from which he recovered just fine).
There’s no word on his bonus yet (even in today’s age, players don’t Tweet that kind of thing), but he was expected to get near slot, which is $1.196 million. Johnson said there wasn’t much of a fight involved in getting him signed.
“I wanted to get out and play,” said Johnson, according to KSPR. “There wasn’t much negotiation to be done. We just needed to dot some I’s and cross some t’s.
“Once I get down [to Arizona] they’ll give me a training routine,” said Johnson. “Right now, we’re just both really excited and looking forward to the future.”
Johnson threw about 100 innings this season at Missouri State, so I wouldn’t expect him to throw much more than 40 to 50 innings of professional ball this year. Given his age and his college experience, it’s no surprise that the plan, according to Johnson, is for him to wind up starting the season out at Boise (low A).
For more on Johnson, see this write-up from shortly after he was drafted last week.