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25m Bruce Miles ‏@BruceMiles2112
#Cubs say Almora signing official and that he will report to Mesa.
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Does anyone know if we have any excess cap money left?

BA with notes on the unsigned first rounders (count me on those who think Appel is a moron if he walks away):

Kevin Gausman, rhp, Louisiana State (Orioles, first round, No. 4 overall): Though he intimated to the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Monday that he might return to LSU for his junior season, that's unlikely. He should sign somewhere around the assigned value for his pick, $4.2 million.

Mark Appel, rhp, Stanford (Pirates, first round, No. 8 overall): Appel was expected to go No. 1 overall to the Astros and sign for in the neighborhood of $6 million. Instead, he slipped to No. 8 and Pittsburgh currently can't pay him more than $3,837,575 without forfeiting a first-round pick, which it has vowed not to do. Appel would risk a lot by re-entering the 2013 draft, but his camp has sent out vibes that he's prepared to do that. This one could go either way.

Andrew Heaney, lhp, Oklahoma State (Marlins, first round, No. 9 overall): Miami has taken a hard-line approach with Heaney and told him Tuesday that they would not sign him. Various sources say they capped their offer at $2.2 million, $2.6 million and $2.7 million, all shy of his assigned pick value of $2.8 million. The Marlins have insisted on thorough physicals for draft picks following 2003 first-rounder Jeff Allison's battle with drug addiction, and there may not be enough time to get that done. But it's still hard to imagine that Miami will walk away from Heaney, especially when it didn't have a second-round pick and hasn't signed its third-rounder.

Lucas Giolito, rhp, Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif. (Nationals, first round, No. 16 overall): Before injuring his elbow in March, Giolito figured to go in the top three selections and command a bonus of $5 million or more. He hasn't pitched in a game since and has a scholarship from UCLA as an option. Washington can spend $3,034,510 without losing a first-round choice, and that seems like a fair price that balances his ceiling and risk.

Richie Shaffer, 3b, Clemson (Rays, first round, No. 25 overall): Shaffer has agreed to terms with Tampa Bay on a bonus slightly under his assigned pick value of $1,725,000. His deal should be announced early today.

I think teams should be obligated to offer at least slot to top picks in this new system. Heaney is getting hosed.

Actually I'm sure Commissioner Bud completely approves of what the Marlins are doing and wishes more teams would do it.  Just point a gun to the player's head and say you're taking this amount of money or you can risk having an injury and go back to school. 

I think it sucks for Haney too, and he is getting hosed.  Still, this is something I'm sure Bud doesn't mind one bit.

Also Heaney signed with Miami for $2.6 million, $200K under slot.

Kind of surprising after all that talk about Heaney not signing and Miami offering well below slot that they'd be able to come to a reasonable agreement.  Sounds like cooler heads prevailed on both sides there.

Sounds like negotiating ploys, and the players lost.  If you can call 2.6 million dollars losing

I suppose if $8 million is insufferably inadequate, you could maybe also gain citizenship in a foreign country, and make yourself eligible for the international signing landscape!  Of course, that will be lots below $8, so not much gain there. 

Another might be to go play in Japan for a few years, and then come over as a Yu Darvish type free agent rather than as a drafted guy. 

And of course the other is to be such a once-in-generation guy that a team will sacrifice future 1st-round picks in order to go way over the top.  Blow the cap, pay the penalty.  Maybe one Bryce Harper is worth three Vitters-Cashner-Jackson type 1st rounders.