Miami Marlins sign top draft pick Andrew Heaney(Oklahoma State) and we might see him in Greensboro in August

The Miami Marlins finally got top draft pick Andrew Heaney(Oklahoma State) signed on Friday and it came right before their deadline and they are glad to have Heaney in the fold….It all came down to the dollars and to the physical….Heaney was asking for 2.8 million as his signing bonus and the Marlins were offering up 2.6 million and the two sides got together on the deal on Friday afternoon and the other stipulation was he had to pass his physical and the team doctor got that straight late on Friday and it was all taken care of and they had to have him pass that physical, after Jeff Allison was not given a complete physical 10 years ago and his stay with the Marlins has haunted the Florida team ever since….The Marlins said they would never let that happen again, as Allison got through without the complete physical and proved to be addicted to drugs and he was never able to completely kick the habit and put all of that behind him and that plauged him and the Marlins during his entire stay with the club….Allison spent time in Greensboro with the Grasshoppers and it bothered him and the organization while he was here….

Heaney will now go to Jupiter and get his arm tested and in shape and then report to the Jamestown Jammers in the New York-Penn League and Greensboro Grasshoppers manager David Berg says there is a chance that we might see him here in Greensboro, in August with the Hoppers….

More details and the breakdown on the Heaney signing with the Marlins from MLB.com(www.mlb.com)…

MIAMI — Signing Andrew Heaney came right down the wire on Friday afternoon.

Officially, the Marlins and their first-round Draft pick sealed the deal within an hour of the 5 p.m. ET deadline to lock up all Draft picks.

In the morning, the Marlins and Heaney reached agreement on a $2.6 million deal, but closing the contract literally came down to how quickly the team medical staff could complete a physical.

On short notice, the team physician, Dr. Lee Kaplan, took the necessary steps to getting Heaney into the medical center for the blood work and physical.

“It really came down to Dr. Kaplan and his medical team at the University of Miami that saved the day,” Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said. “That’s the only way this thing got done.

“They cleared out the hospital, went to the ER to get the blood work done. They went way and above any normal timeline for a physical to get this done, which we didn’t think could get done, but they got it done.”

The Marlins are adamant about their picks taking physicals before they sign because of what happened in 2003. That year, they selected right-hander Jeff Allison in the first round.

The pitcher ended up having addiction problems and he no longer is in the organization.

“We had a really unfortunate thing happen 10 years ago with Jeff Allison,” Beinfest said. “We require physicals before the contracts can be consummated. That’s just the way it goes. We got burned. It was unfortunate. We require it, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable. We’re up front with everybody. They know we require it.”

Once Heaney gets in shape at Jupiter, he likely will be headed to short-season Class A Jamestown.