Cubs Sign 22 Draft Picks

After a week of negotiations, 22 members from the Cubs’ 2007 draft class have signed professional contracts with more to follow.

Of the 22 players signed in all, the breakdown includes 20 college players, one JUCO player (RHP and 23rd-round selection Stephen Vento), and one Cuban-born player (catcher and 39th-round selection Roberto Sabates).

Among the list of notable top-round signees are: LHP Casey Lambert, the Cubs’ sixth-round pick from the University of Virginia; OF Ty Wright (seventh-round, Oklahoma State); INF Marquez Smith (eighth-round, Clemson); OF Leon Johnson (10th-round, BYU); LHP Chris Siegfried (11th-round, Portland); and OF Jonathan Wyatt (13th-round, Georgia).

Many of these and other players will report to Class Low-A Boise later this week for the start of short-season play in the Northwest League.

Meanwhile, several high-round picks such as first-round and third-overall selection Josh Vitters, first-round supplemental pick Josh Donaldson, and 12th-round pick Ryan Acosta are still in negotiations with the club.

Additionally, due to some drafted players’ presence in the College World Series, such as fourth-round pick Darwin Barney of Oregon State, contract talks have been relatively slow-going with several of those players so far.

The Cubs also intend to follow many other drafted players’ progress in various summer leagues with hopes of signing those players at a later date.

Several of those players include: LHP James Russell, a 14th-round draft pick from the University of Texas, his Longhorns teammate and catcher Preston Clark (33rd round), and INF Victor Sanchez (25th round).

Moreover, the Cubs have signed four non-drafted free agents. Three such players are Wichita State INF Derek Schermerhorn, University of Bradley pitcher Michael Christl, and Virginia Wesleyan College catcher Matt Hudgins.

The complete list of drafted players signed as of Friday is as follows.

Round	Name	Position	College/High School
6	Casey Lambert	LHP	Virginia
7	Ty Wright	OF	Oklahoma State
8	Marquez Smith	3B	Clemson
10	Leon Johnson	OF	BYU
11	Chris Siegfried	LHP	University of Portland
13	Jonathan Wyatt	OF	Georgia
15	Marc Sawyer	INF	Yale
16	Zach Ashwood	LHP	Kansas
20	Jose Made	INF	Dominican College
21	Dustin Sasser	LHP	East Carolina
22	Craig Muschko	RHP	La Salle
23	Stephen Vento	RHP	Palm Beach (Fla.) CC
24	Scott Meyer	RHP	Lamar
26	Michael Bunton	LHP	College of Charleston
28	Bill Moss	INF	Memphis
30	Luke Sommer	OF	University of San Francisco
31	Brian Leclerc	OF	Florida
32	Luis Batista	C	Florida International
36	Billy Mottran	INF	Dowling College
38	Yuri Higgins	RHP	South Florida
39	Roberto Sabates	C	Cuba
40	Corey Bachman	RHP	VMI