Buoyed by the optimism that they will be able to sign all seven of their draft picks from this past week's abbreviated draft, the Cardinals have completed two deals that reveal how they're going to pull off the bigger bonuses for their highly touted high school selections.
The Cardinals finalized a contract with 70th overall pick Alec Burleson on Monday, and they have a contract in place with their fifth-round selection, Long Beach State outfielder LJ Jones IV. Burleson signed for $700,000, and Jones, according to MLB.com, received $100,000 as his bonus. Both are below slot which frees up space to make larger offers to the picks that have greater leverage.