Mariners sign 2nd-round pick Joe Rizzo

If there were any concerns about Joe Rizzo's signability lurking in the back of your head, you are now free to relax:

.@Mariners have signed second round pick Joe Rizzo for $1.75 mil. Pick 50 value=$1,252,100. HS 3b can really hit. @MLBDraft

— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) June 17, 2016

It took some above-slot money to break Rizzo of his commitment to the University of South Carolina, but with first-round pick Kyle Lewis signing for slot-value and a plethora of cheap college seniors filling the draft board, there appeared to be plenty of money to spare. Most importantly, the timing of the signing gives Rizzo some time to get out to Peoria and join the AZL Mariners, who don't start their season until Monday.

Once Rizzo is suited up, a key thing to keep an eye on will be how the Mariners use him in the field. As of now, Rizzo appears to be a man without a true position; he plays a subpar third base with some experience mixed in at other infield positions. Converting the 5'11, 195-pound prospect into a catcher sounds neat in theory, but considering he was drafted as a bat-first prospect, it would probably be in the Mariners' best interest to place Rizzo at a less-demanding position, both physically and mentally.

Speaking of his bat, the tape on Rizzo is so impressive. He manages to frequently barrel up the ball and drive it to all fields. The swing is compact, but he consistently uses his entire body to generate surprising power with it. There's some leg kick that comes when loading from his open stance, but it's nothing too over the top.

With the Rizzo signing complete, the Mariners have now inked 14 of their top 18 selections. Of the four unsigned players, three (Donnie Walton - Oklahoma State, Danny Garcia - Miami, Robert Dugger - Texas Tech) are participating in the College World Series. 16th-round selection Lyle Lin, meanwhile, will be attending Arizona State next year rather than sign with the Mariners, according to his Instagram.