Jordan heads West for scouting and signing negotiations

The deals are not completely done, but the Orioles expect fifth-round draft pick, Connor Narron, a high school infielder from Goldsboro, North Carolina and ninth-round pick, prep pitcher Parker Bridwell from Hereford, Texas, in Baltimore this Thursday and Friday for physicals. If all goes well, they could soon officially sign and report to the Gulf Coast League Orioles as early as next week. "We are hopeful that we are within five or six days tops (of the pair reporting to that club)," O's scouting director Joe Jordan said. "We feel like we will be in good shape on these pretty soon. More than likely the middle of next week. "It will be all about getting them acclimated to the way we do things. Whatever game stuff we get out of it is a bonus to me." Meanwhile, Jordan is heading to Los Angeles for scouting and some face-to-face negotiations with three players from California that have not yet signed. "We have three guys from the West Coast that are in our top ten that we haven't signed. I'm sure there will be a lot of attention paid to those guys. "It reaches a point where it's about that time for someone to make a decision. We are going to address it, let both sides make their point and hopefully get what we want." Jordan is expecting to meet with third-round pick, UCLA pitcher Dan Klein, sixth-round selection, Cal pitcher Dixon Anderson and Pepperdine pitcher Matthew Bywater, taken in round seven. The O's were hopeful that Klein would have been signed not long after the end of the College World Series, but it still hasn't happened. "I'll know more about it (Klein) come the weekend. I'm tired of speculating on that one. I'm going to go and deal with it face-to-face and see what we can put together." Top pick Many Machado is still not signed and that one still figures to down perhaps to the last day for picks to sign on August 16. Machado is no longer playing summer ball in Florida. Meanwhile, the O's are delighted that an agreement is within reach with Narron, who dropped to the fifth round because many thought he was headed to North Carolina to play college ball. "I felt pretty good about it. Dominic Viola, our area scout, we felt got through the signability information maybe different or better than others. We felt like we would be in good shape. We thought about taking him earlier and put it off a bit. It comes down to our area scout did a good job on this one," Jordan said.