Silva Signs Contract to Play for Blue Jays

Ending weeks of speculation since the Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the sixth round of baseball’s June 3 amateur draft, Jose Silva signed a contract with the team late Tuesday.

Silva, a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher from Hilltop High, will leave Saturday morning for his assignment with the Blue Jays’ rookie league team in Florida.

He had been considering attending San Diego State on scholarship or playing at a community college.

Terms of the signing bonus were not released. “What we got was pretty good compared to other sixth rounders. That much I can tell you,” said Silva’s father, Jose Sr.

He added that Gord Ash, Toronto’s assistant general manager, and Bob Engle, the director of scouting, flew in from Toronto to negotiate.

Silva was 3-1 with a 1.13 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 31 innings this season for the Lancers before straining a muscle in his right forearm.

He was 9-4 with a 1.10 ERA and led the county in strikeouts with 118 as a junior.

Silva said all along that the injury was not serious. Still, he was bypassed until the sixth round. He thought about pitching for Southwestern College in 1992 to prove he was OK.

The past few weeks, he has been pitching for his Palomino League team.