ESPN.com's Keith Law tweets that Pirates second-round 2011 MLB Draft pick Josh Bell is unlikely to sign, regardless of how much money the Pirates offer. This isn't totally surprising, since Bell's commitment to the University of Texas was supposed to have been very strong, but it will be very disappointing if it turns out to be the case that he isn't open to signing at all.
I'm told there is no $ figure that would do it. Could change his mind I guess. RT @gobuccos88: what will it take to sign josh bell? 6,7 mil?
Bell did enlist Scott Boras to guide him through the draft process, but it wouldn't be shocking if this were part of some super-sneaky strategy to extract the most money possible. But as it stands now, the Bucs' chances of signing Bell don't look great. That's a shame. I think the Pirates can still pull off a good draft if they get Gerrit Cole, Alex Dickerson and a bunch of their later-round high school pitchers to sign. Also, if Bell doesn't sign, they'll get an extra second-round pick in 2012. But signing Bell really would be the difference between a decent draft and a great one - he was one of the best talents available, and the only reason he fell all the way to the Pirates at No. 61 was his signability issues.