Minutes after being selected with the fourth overall pick in the major league draft, USD pitcher Brian Matusz was roaming a Mission Valley mall with a couple of Toreros teammates looking for a Baltimore Orioles cap.
Now he can officially wear it.
The junior left-hander, who was the first pitcher drafted June 5, signed with the Orioles yesterday, just nine hours before the signing deadline. Matusz will receive a four-year major league contract with a $3.2 million signing bonus.
“I'm relieved to have it done,” said Matusz, “and put the business side of it to the side and start my career and do what I love to do most – get out there and start playing ball.
“That's what I've been wanting to do all summer. I've gotten to that point where I'm just excited to get out and start playing again.”
Matusz was regarded as the top pitcher in the nation this season after going 12-2 with a 1.71 ERA, 141 strikeouts and just 22 walks in 105 innings for the Toreros. He was seeking a major league contract from the outset. Baltimore didn't want to give him one.
“We did try to take it down another road for a good part of the summer,” Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan said in a conference call, “but there was a point in time that we had to realize as a club that we needed to do this to make this thing come together.
“From an organizational standpoint, we're thrilled with the way things worked out. Both sides are happy with it.”
The Orioles' reluctance to award a major league deal is no doubt due in part to how things worked out the last time they did it – in 2002 when they selected left-hander Adam Loewen with their first-round pick.
Loewen, who received a $4 million contract, has been hurt each of the last three seasons, the past two years with a stress fracture to his left elbow. He retired as a pitcher last month and is going to try to come back next season as a hitter, à la St. Louis' Rick Ankiel.
Contract discussions for Matusz finally gathered momentum this week. Things moved rapidly, with Matusz hopping on a flight to Baltimore late Wednesday night so that he could be there yesterday morning to take a physical, a requirement for a player to receive a major league contract.
Matusz is expected to be introduced to the Baltimore fans and media next weekend at Camden Yards when the Orioles host the New York Yankees. He likely will go to the organization's Single-A team in Aberdeen, Md., to work out and may play in a fall league after the season.
Other draft news
Valhalla pitcher/shortstop
Ryan O'Sullivan, selected in the 10th round by San Francisco, rejected the team's $180,000 offer and will attend San Diego State.
The day began with 10 of the 30 first-round picks unsigned. When the dust settled, seven of the 10 had signed. Among them, according to Baseball America: Florida State catcher Buster Posey, who received a record $6.2 million signing bonus from the Giants; Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez signed with Pittsburgh ($6 million); South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak signed with Texas ($3.5 million); prep first baseman Eric Hosmer signed with Kansas City ($6 million); U. of Miami first baseman Yonder Alonso signed with Cincinnati ($2 million), receiving a major league contract for a guaranteed $4.55 million.
Failing to sign were U. of Georgia closer Josh Fields (Mariners) and prep right-hander Gerrit Cole (Yankees). Missouri right-hander Aaron Crow (Nationals) also failed to sign.
Kirk Kenney: (619) 293-1825; kirk.kenney@uniontrib.com
