Other than one time in Little League, Kevin Newman figures, he always played shortstop. He grew up admiring Derek Jeter from the country in Poway, Calif., wearing No. 2 in honor of the longtime New York Yankees shortstop.
“Of course in Little League you want your athletes where the ball’s going to go,” Newman’s father, John, said. “So he was always at short.”
That worked until he reached Poway High School, where he waited a year to join the varsity team because another player had shortstop locked down. That was Connor Joe, Newman’s neighbor, who played at the University of San Diego before the Pirates selected Joe with a competitive balance pick last year.
Monday, the Pirates added Newman to the organization as well, officially signing the shortstop from the University of Arizona one week after drafting him in the first round. Newman and the Pirates agreed to a $2,175,000 bonus, according to MLB.com, $98,800 less than the assigned slot value for where the Pirates chose Newman at No. 19 overall.
“This whole week it was almost like I was dreaming, getting here and signing papers,” Newman said. “I still can’t believe it’s happening.”
Newman hit .370 with 22 steals in his junior season at Arizona, earning first-team-Pac-12 honors. He became the first player to win the batting title in the Cape Cod League, a wood-bat collegiate summer league, in consecutive years in 2013-14.
“Our guys fell in love with him last year,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “Hoped he would get to us. Never dreamed he would.”
Newman said the Pirates began expressing interest in him at the beginning of the year.
“The Pirates definitely showed a bit more interest than most,” Newman said. “From that point on, we kept talking, and I got great vibes from those who I talked to in the Pirates organization. I’m not surprised at all that I’m a Pirate.”
Newman joins Cole Tucker, the Pirates’ first-round pick last year and a friend of Newman’s — Tucker, a former Phoenix-area high schooler, had committed to Arizona — in the Pirates’ ranks of young shortstops.
“We like [Newman] as a shortstop because he has the defensive skills to stay at the position,” Huntington said.
They also drafted, but have not yet signed, UCLA shortstop Kevin Kramer.
As a senior in high school, Newman hit .374 with nine doubles and two homers, but was not selected in the 2012 draft.
“We did not realize how much that fired him up, how much that affected him, not being drafted,” John Newman said.
While motivated by going undrafted, Kevin Newman understood.
“Between what I was asking for money-wise, and I didn’t perform as well my senior year to match that number, with that combination, you typically don’t get drafted where you want to go,” he said.
Newman will begin his pro career with the short-season West Virginia Black Bears, the Pirates’ new New York-Penn League affiliate. Asked if he would be in the lineup when the Black Bears’ season starts Friday, Newman said, “I would think so.” Huntington, seated beside Newman, echoed the phrase.
Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.
First Published: June 15, 2015, 7:41 p.m.
