Twins sign four more, should have Hicks on board today

LEN3 is reporting that the Twins are expected to announce the signing of first-round draft pick Aaron Hicks on Friday. Hicks is an outfielder from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach California. He was selected with the 14 over all pick during last week's first-year player draft.

The signing bonus is expected to be in the neighborhood of $1.7 million. The switch hitter is expected to follow the Trevor Plouffe route - going to the Elizabethton Team instead of starting with the GCL Twins team. This actually makes sense though, as E-Town is little light on outfielders just at the moment.

The Twins have signed four more players from last week's First-Year Player Draft, including two from the first 10 rounds -- fourth-round pick Daniel Ortiz, an outfielder from Benjamin Harrison High School in Puerto Rico, and seventh-round pick Dan Osterbrock, a left-handed pitcher from the University of Cincinnati.

Lefty David Coulon, the Twins 15th round pick from the University of Arizona and Javier Brown a shortstop from Grossmont College, California, who was the Twins 37th round pick (1116 overall), are also reportedly signed.

Tyler Ladendorf, Evan Bigley, Michael Harrington, Steven Blevins, and Alex Curry were all signed earlier and have reported to Mini-camp.

"It felt good," Harrington is quoted as saying of his signing Wednesday in a Cedar Rapids Gazette article.

"I feel comfortable," he said. "All the guys here are nice guys."

"Not a whole lot of money," he said. "Just go play."

17th rounder David Martin has stated he will sign after LSU’s season is over.

"We were all excited about the draft, but right now our main focus is on UC Irvine and getting to the World Series," Martin said in a recent interview. "Playing in the College World Series is a once in a lifetime experience, and that's what we're all focusing on right now."

If Martin were to sign now, he would loose his amateur status. Martin will be assigned to the Elizabethton team once he has inked his contract.

Word has it that 16th rounder Kolten Wong, a 2nd baseman from Kamahameha High School has been offered $50,000 from the Twins but is unsure if he will accept it.

The Twins are going to try to play the Red Sox Saturday in a mini-camp game at the Lee County Sportsplex which will start "10 or 11 or so, just get to camp early."

The bus to Elizabethton will be leaving Saturday night, so there will be no game on Sunday, just fielding drills.