It appears Termarr Johnson is about to officially begin his professional baseball career and sign with the Pirates.
According to a source, Johnson, the Pirates' first-round pick and the fourth overall pick this season, is in Pittsburgh and will take his physical Friday. That is usually the last step taken before a player signs a contract.
Terms of a potential contract are not yet known. The fourth overall pick carries a slot value of $7,005,800, though the Pirates do have some wiggle room to go over that amount.
Johnson, an 18-year-old shortstop from Atlanta, was rated as the best hitter in this year's draft, according to Baseball America, and was seen by some as a dark horse for the No. 1 overall pick. Featuring one of the best hit tools for a high school player in recent years, he will be officially regarded as one of the Pirates' top prospects and one of the top prospects in baseball as soon as he signs.
At the amateur draft in Los Angeles on July 17, he declared himself "the best player in the draft" and that the Pirates were "getting a ring, too" with him.
"At the end of the day, I want to win a ring," Johnson told reporters in Los Angeles the day he was drafted. "I want to win a couple rings, and I want to be an All-Star. I'm going to put myself in that position, and I know the Pirates are going to put me in position to be that guy."
“We are thrilled to select Termarr with the No. 4 overall selection,” Ben Cherington said the night of the draft. “We held true to our board and selected who we believe was the best available talent. Termarr has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order impact bat at a premium position."
In case you missed it, here is my in-depth feature on Johnson that I wrote in Los Angeles. My story on him being drafted can be found here.
So far, the Pirates have signed 17 of the 21 players from this year's draft class. The other four who have not signed are all pitchers: 12th-round right-hander K.C. Hunt, 14th-round left-hander Julian Bosnic and 19th-round right-hander Yoel Tejada.
The deadline to sign draft picks is August 1.
