August 12, 2009

BaltimoreSun.com
Special to Rivals High

The Orioles have until midnight Monday to sign their second-round pick, but the club and Florida prep shortstop Mychal Givens expect to have a resolution - one way or the other - before then.

"I think this thing will wrap up within the next 48 hours, but I have no idea where it is going," Orioles amateur scouting director Joe Jordan said Tuesday night. "We are trying to get something done, but I really don't know. I'd be guessing."

The two sides spoke again Monday and Jordan said a decision must be made in time for Givens to come to Baltimore on Friday for a physical. Club policy dictates that no signings are approved until medical clearance is received. The Orioles don't want to chance complications Monday, so if Givens isn't in Baltimore on Friday for a physical, it raises serious doubts about his future with the organization.

"Right now, I am still trying to talk over the contract, I won't know anything for a couple days," said Givens, selected 54th overall by the Orioles out of Plant High in Tampa, Fla. "It's now in Baltimore's hands. If they want me signed, they will do the job. I am just waiting on them and for their call."

Givens, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound shortstop, said he has spent the summer working out, fielding grounders and serving as a baseball instructor at a youth camp.

If he doesn't sign, Givens will accept a full baseball scholarship to Oklahoma State and won't be eligible for the draft again until June 2011, when he'll be 21.

"Both options are still up in the air," Givens said.

If the Orioles fail to sign Givens, they'll receive the sixth pick in 2010's second round, one spot behind where Givens was selected this year.

The club has signed, or is about to sign, eight of its other nine top 10 picks.

Two more became official Tuesday: Randy Henry, a right-handed pitcher selected in the fourth round out of South Mountain (Ariz.) Community College , signed for $365,000; and Ryan Berry, a Rice University right-hander selected in the ninth round, signed for $417,600, which is considered third-round money. Berry was thought to be difficult to sign when he was drafted 266th overall.

Fifth-round lefty Ashur Tolliver was in Baltimore on Tuesday and scheduled to take his physical today. The club also signed outfielder Brenden Webb, a 30th-round pick.

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