Mark Appel is "leaning against" signing, Jon Heyman says.

Mark Appel, rhp picked No. 8 overall, is leaning against signing w/ the pirates for $3.8M to instead return to stanford

Who knows if this means anything -- Heyman is known to have contact with Scott Boras, and this could just be something Boras is trying to increase Appel's leverage, not that he really has a whole lot. Note that the tweet says he's "leaning against" signing, not that he won't sign, which of course would be much more helpful information. This smells like a pure Boras tactic, especially since it's Heyman doing the reporting.

I hope Appel signs, but if he doesn't, I'm not overly concerned about it. The Pirates can keep signing above-slot picks, and they'll get the No. 9 pick in the draft next year in addition to the first-round pick they'll already have. If Appel chooses not to sign, I really hope, for his sake, he doesn't get injured or struggle. Good luck to him.