Top pick Vitters gets $3.2M bonus
It went down to the final minutes, but the Cubs finally got their man, signing top draft pick Josh Vitters just before Wednesday's 11 p.m. deadline.
Vitters, a high school third baseman from California, got a $3.2 million signing bonus.
''I'm pretty happy,'' said Vitters, the third overall pick in June. ''I couldn't have found a better organization to be with.''
Vitters was in town for the final day of negotiations but didn't leave his hotel for Wrigley Field until after agreeing to terms. He said he and his agent were waiting to see how some of the other first-round signings came in, including No. 1 pick David Price,the Vanderbilt pitcher who signed a six-year, $11.25 million deal with Tampa Bay earlier in the night.
''I was pretty confident I was signing the whole time,'' said Vitters, who signed a standard minor-league deal that includes the signing bonus but no automatic invitation to major-league spring training. ''But I was a little scared we wouldn't get it in on time. We were kind of freaking out, just sitting there [at the hotel waiting for the agent's call].''
This is the first year of a summer deadline for signing picks. In past years, teams had until the next year's draft day. The Cubs now have signed their top 18 picks.
Vitters expects to start his pro career next week with the Cubs' rookie Class A team in Mesa, Ariz., then hopes to make a quick jump to short-season Boise before the season ends in a few weeks.
''If I feel like 100 percent before Sept. 1, I go to Lou [Piniella] and I say I feel good,'' said Soriano, who hoped to start running on his injured right leg this week but has been told to wait until next week. ''The trainer has to say that, too.''
Counting the day he got hurt, the Cubs are 2-8 since Soriano tore his right quadriceps -- part of his motivation.
''It's hard to see the team struggling and very hard for me to be on the DL for my first time,'' he said. ''The pain is gone [when] walking. So now I feel good walking, and I'm just working with the trainer.''
Team officials are sticking to the original timeline for Soriano.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to benefit the University of Chicago intensive care unit, where Cornelius ''C.C.'' Floyd received his care for the last two months, can send a check to the university with ''In memory of Cornelius Floyd'' on the memo line.
C.C. Floyd had been hospitalized with kidney and heart problems since early June. He was 57.
Cliff Floyd has been on the bereavement list since Sunday and likely will return to the active roster this Sunday.
• • New Cubs left-hander Carmen Pignatiello -- a Chicago-area native, no less -- finally got a nameplate on his clubhouse locker stall on his second day on the job. His name was spelled ''Tignaitello.''