Told you, I’d be back soon. Just wanted to pass along some information, rather than just links to news stories. Frankly, there’s not a whole lot going on right now and I think there’s going to be some chain reaction stuff going on, particularly with the college hitters. There are 11 first-round picks still unsigned. Five of them — Pedro Alvarez, Eric Hosmer, Josh Fields, Allan Dykstra and Gerrit Cole — are represented by Scott Boras. No one said this was going to be boring. Here’s what’s out there as of now:

2. Pirates — Pedro Alvarez: The Pirates are being tight-lipped, other than to say that negotiations are on-going. This was one I figured would come down to the wire, anyway, but I did hear from a sort-of second-hand source that the two sides aren’t all that far apart.

3. Royals — Eric Hosmer: Really nothing new to report. Hosmer is playing in a tournament over the weekend and things will get cooking next week. The Royals went down this road with Moustakas last year and got it done.

4. Orioles — Brian Matusz: Both sides want to get something done, though it was characterized as not being close, but not that far apart, either. (As an aside, 8th round pick Bobby Bundy was in Baltimore for a physical today and was expected to sign pending the results — he did have a torn ACL last winter).

5. Giants — Buster Posey: This one will go down to the 11th hour. Rumors, if you recall, were that Posey was looking for some serious cashola bonus-wise.

7. Reds — Yonder Alonso: It hasn’t been going great, but the Reds are still fairly confident they’ll get it done. Look for it to be above-slot. An odd side note: The agent representing Alonso also reps Jim Morris, the University of Miami baseball coach. Yep, Alonso went to Miami…just adds some drama.

8. White Sox — Gordon Beckham: The organization feels pretty good he’ll sign, though nothing concrete has materialized as of yet.

9. Nationals — Aaron Crow: There have been all sorts of reports that talks aren’t “going well,” but who knows how much of that is posturing. Word was Crow was looking for a big-league deal at one point in time.

11. Rangers — Justin Smoak:  I haven’t been hearing much on this front. I can see this one being tied to what Alonso signs for at No. 7.

20. Mariners — Josh Fields: Even though he’s a Boras guy, I’m surprised at this one. The college seniors, even those represented by Boras, usually sign more quickly than this. Some feel Boras is trying to up the price on seniors, so his juniors will get even more money in the future. This guy needs to sign — he could be getting big-league time by now.

23. Padres — Allan Dykstra: He’s a Boras guy and he’s got some health concerns (hip). One probably makes the other more complicated. This one was reported as done a while back, but that was a bit premature.

 28. Yankees — Gerrit Cole: It’s expected to happen, though don’t be surprised if it goes down to the deadline. (Another aside: they’ll likely sign supplemental first-round pick Jeremy Bleich, but not second-rounder Scott Bittle)

More as I hear about it…