It's pretty common practice nowadays for the top overall selections in the amateur draft to use almost the entire signing period to negotiate their deals.

Last year, Matt Wieters didn't sign until 10 minutes before the August 15th deadline and as of today, August 12th, the Orioles 2008 first round pick and fourth overall selection Brian Matusz is yet to sign.

The Orioles for their part have said all along that they believe they will get a deal done, but as time has gone by this summer, they have become a little more concerned due to the fact they believed through their initial conversations with Matusz and his advisor Marc Agar that the process wouldn't take the entire summer.

One of the holdups may be that Washington draft pick Aaron Crow, who was the second college pitcher selected, is reportedly trying to set a record with his bonus and Agar and Matusz don't want to be undersold. However, Scouting Director Joe Jordan told the Hangout that Crow's situation had no bearing on Matusz.

During this time, fans usually don't get an opportunity to hear from the draft pick and some start to believe that the young man is just trying to break the bank and doesn't care about getting started.

However, Matusz has reached out to Orioles fans through the Hangout in an e-mail he sent last night.

"With a lot of public interest in my signing with the Orioles, I thought it is important that I report to the Orioles fans how things are going.

Both the Orioles and myself have been working diligently on getting a deal done. I want to sign and will do so upon receiving a fair (not record breaking) deal. While I am not at liberty to discuss any parameters or numbers of the deal, I am hopeful that a resolution can be reached.

Thank you fans for all your positive support and messages, and I will be looking forward to seeing you at the ballpark soon."

So there you have it. Matusz wants to sign and think enough of the fans to reach out and let them know they are working and that he wants to sign.

Pesonally, I'm impressed that this young man took the time to reach out and hopefully we'll be reporting his signing in the next few days.