Arizona baseball: Jared Oliva signs contract with Pittsburgh Pirates

Officially skipping his senior year

After being selected in the 7th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, it seemed very likely that Arizona Wildcats outfielder Jared Oliva would be leaving college after his junior year.

That became official on Monday when Oliva signed his first pro contract.

Congrats to Jared Oliva for signing his contract with the @pirates today! #MLBTrainingGround #BearDown http://pic.twitter.com/J04fvoFX0f

— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) June 20, 2017

According to MLB.com reporter Jim Callis, Oliva signed for $200,000, which is exactly slot value for the 208th overall selection.

Oliva is the second Arizona player to be drafted in the early rounds by the Pirates in recent years. Kevin Newman currently plays for the Double-A Altoona Curve. It seems that Oliva will likely be assigned to the short season West Virginia Black Bears.

2017 was a big season for Oliva at the plate, who saw his batting average jump up 80 points from 2016, and his OPS also increased by 190 points. Heading into the draft, he was ranked as the 140th best prospect by Baseball America, so by that standard, the Pirates got pretty good value taking him 68 spots later.

Good luck to Jared as he pursues his professional opportunity. He was always a great guy to talk to and be around, and was always one of the friendliest in and around the clubhouse.

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