Royals complete agreement with Colon for $2.75 million signing bonus

Shortstop Christian Colon meant it, it seems, when he said he was anxious to start his climb through the Royals’ organization.

Colon, the fourth overall pick in the draft, reached a formal agreement Friday with the Royals for a signing bonus of $2.75 million after passing a routine physical examination. The deal does not include a spot on the 40-man major-league roster.

“I’m glad it’s over,” he said, “and I can get my career started. I’m excited to get going. I can’t wait to get out there and do what I do.”

The two sides reached a tentative agreement Wednesday, but the deal didn’t become official until Colon, 21, passed a physical. He attended Friday’s game at Kauffman Stadium but planned to depart early this morning for Class A Wilmington.

The Royals plan to limit Colon over the next few days to batting practice and defensive drills before working him into games early next week.

“For Christian, personally, it’s an adjustment period,” assistant general manager J.J. Picollo said. “He’s going to get two months of professional baseball under his belt and head into spring training (next year) knowing what to expect.

“I think these two months will really help his progression as a professional baseball player.”

The Royals have now signed 30 of their 50 picks from the June 7-9 draft, including six of their top 10 picks and 16 of their top 22.

Club officials see Colon, 6 feet and 180 pounds, as a fast-track prospect. He was an All-American at Cal State Fullerton, where he batted .358 in his just-completed junior season with 17 homers and 68 RBIs in 64 games.

“He’s got tremendous baseball skill at a premium position,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “He’s a tremendous leader who was captain of the U.S.A (national collegiate) team, and he’s been a part of winning for his entire (amateur) career.”

Assigning Colon to Wilmington, which plays in the advanced Class A Carolina League, reflects the organization’s belief that he could move quickly their system.

“We feel he can handle the league,” Picollo said. “He has a lot of experience at the college level and the international level. His maturity is little greater than a lot of college players. I think he’s going to fit right in there without any issues at all.”

Colon declined to put a timetable on his career.

“Things will take care of themselves if I do what I’m supposed to do,” he said. “I’m going to work as hard as I can to get to that point (of being called up to the majors). But the decision is not up to me.”

The signing comes 18 days after Colon’s selection and marks the quickest agreement for the Royals with their top pick since Billy Butler signed for $1.45 million just two days after his selection as the 14th overall selection in 2004.

Colon is also the highest pick yet to sign from this year’s draft and, as such, sets the financial bar for other signings. None of the other top 12 picks have signed.

“When we drafted him,” Picollo said, “we were hopeful – just like we have in the past – that we would get him signed and get him out soon. But we know going into it that it may not happen.

“It’s about taking the best player available and when they get there, they get there.”

Colon’s collegiate career ended June 13 when Fullerton was eliminated by UCLA in an NCAA Super Regional. That allowed formal negotiations to commence.

“I’m a baseball player,” Colon said, “and I love being out there and playing every day. For me, I’m very, very excited it was a quick thing. I was at home, and I was getting antsy. I wanted to get out there and play.

“I can’t wait to start my journey with the Kansas City Royals.”

Royals’ 2010 draft picks

The Royals have signed 30 of the 50 players selected June 7-9 in the annual new-player draft. An “x” indicates player is signed.

Round Pick Player Pos. B-T Ht. Wt. School

x1 4 Christian Colon SS R-R 6-1 190 Cal State Fullerton

2 54 Brett Eibner P/OF R-R 6-3 205 Arkansas

x3 86 Michael Antonio SS R-R 6-2 190 G. Wash (N.Y.) HS

4 119 Kevin Chapman P L-L 6-3 210 Florida

5 149 Jason Adam P R-R 6-4 225 BV Northwest HS

x6 179 Scott Alexander P L-L 6-2 190 Sonoma St (Calif.)

x7 210 Eric Cantrell P R-R 6-4 210 G. Washington

x8 239 Michael Mariot P R-R 6-0 190 Nebraska

9 269 Whitley Merrifield OF R-R 6-1 165 South Carolina

x10 299 Tim Ferguson OF R-R 6-1 190 Mississippi

x11 329 Alex McClure SS S-R 6-0 185 M. Tennessee St.

x12 359 Daniel Hernandez P R-R 6-1 180 Miami Dade S CC

13 389 Jon Gray P R-R 6-5 245 Chandler (Okla.) HS

x14 419 Michael Giovenco P R-R 6-6 235 North Park (Ill.) U

x15 449 Jason Mitchell P R-R 6-2 185 Texas-Arlington

x16 479 Chas Byrne P S-R 6-3 185 East Tenn. State

x17 509 Ryan Jenkins C R-R 6-2 220 Auburn

18 539 Brian Fletcher OF R-R 6-1 194 Auburn

x19 569 Kevin David C R-R 6-1 205 Oklahoma State

x20 599 Cameron Conner OF L-L 6-2 185 Indiana U. SE

x21 629 Michael Liberto SS R-R 5-7 170 Missouri

x22 659 Tyler Graham P R-R 6-4 250 Nevada-Reno

23 689 Steven Neff P L-L 6-2 205 South Carolina

24 719 Brandon Glazer SS R-R 6-3 190 Clear Spring HS

25 749 Merritt Sosnoskie OF L-L 6-1 180 Virginia Tech

x26 779 Gates Dooley P R-R 6-0 205 Henderson St

x27 809 José Rodriguez OF S-R 5-8 165 Miami Dade S CC

x28 839 Murray Watts 1B L-R 6-7 270 Arkansas State

x29 869 Alexander Marquez C R-R 5-11 190 A.C. Martinez HS

x30 899 Chad Blauer P R-R 6-3 215 P.L. Nazarene Univ

31 929 Parker Bangs P R-R 6-4 210 South Carolina

32 959 Justin Hageman P R-R 6-2 205 Hopkinsville HS

x33 989 Anthony Lohden P R-R 6-4 220 S. Arkansas

34 1019 Mark Blackmar P R-R 6-2 205 Carroll (Texas) HS

35 1049 Kris Carlson P R-R 6-3 190 WV (Wash.) CC

36 1079 Mitchell Beacom P L-L 6-8 240 UCLA

x37 1109 Robert Penny P L-R 6-3 190 Pitt (N.C.) CC

x38 1139 Nick Graffeo P R-R 6-2 190 Ala-Birmingham

x39 1169 Alexander Rivers P R-R 5-10 170 Santa Clara

x40 1199 Dale Cornstubble C R-R 5-11 195 Central Michigan

x41 1229 Matt Ridings P R-R 6-0 190 Western Kentucky

42 1259 Michael Botelho C R-R 6-2 215 Chabot College

43 1289 Dillon Wilson P L-L 6-7 210 W. Oklahoma St.

44 1319 Rashawn Payne 2B R-R 6-1 190 Georgia Southern

x45 1349 Thomas Zebroski SS R-R 5-10 188 George Wash.

x46 1379 William Robertson C R-R 6-3 185 Middle Tenn. St.

x47 1409 Darian Sandford OF S-R 5-9 170 Park University

48 1439 Jacob Hannemann OF L-L 6-1 190 Lone Peak HS

49 1469 Jordan Propst P R-R 6-6 205 South Carolina

50 1499 Joseph Jackson C L-R 6-1 180 Mauldin (S.C.) HS

This story was originally published June 25, 2010 at 2:40 PM with the headline "Royals complete agreement with Colon for $2.75 million signing bonus."