FAYETTEVILLE -- Positives outweighed negatives in regards to Tuesday's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on the future of Arkansas baseball.

Three Razorbacks signees were selected in the first five rounds and are likely to sign professionally. However, another turned down big bucks and increased his chances of attending Arkansas this fall.

R.J. Seidel, a 6-foot-6 right-handed pitcher from LaCrosse (Wis.) Central High, was offered $300,000 by the Chicago White Sox before their third-round selection, but politely declined. Since he would have been a tough sign, Seidel slid to the 16th round where he was taken with the 482nd overall pick by the Milwaukee Brewers.

"This makes it a lot better for Arkansas," Seidel said. "I think it's going to give me the time to work on some things I need to improve in order to become a professional baseball player and I'll get my degree at the same time, so it's a win-win situation if that's what I decide to do."

Becoming more of a "pitcher" instead of a "thrower" while developing some offspeed pitches against tough Southeastern Conference hitters sure sounds more inviting to Seidel than signing a professional contract at this time, especially with 16th-round money.

"I think I'm going to go ahead and go to school," Seidel said. "I'm about 90 percent sure about that right now and my dad said the Brewers are going to make an offer at the end of the summer, so I don't really know for sure how that's going to go down.

"But right now, I'm preparing to go to Arkansas."

Another pleasant result of Tuesday's opening rounds came when Ty Weeden, another UA signee projected to go in the top 200 picks, also slipped to the 16th round where the Boston Red Sox selected him No. 493 overall. That also increases chances he could end up at Arkansas, but attempts Tuesday evening to reach the power hitter from Edmund (Okla.) Sante Fe High were unsuccessful.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day for the Razorbacks was how high signee Tony Butler went. The 6-7 left-handed pitcher from Oak Creek (Wis.) High ended up being the first Arkansas signee drafted after the Seattle Mariners took him in the third round with the 81st pick.

Butler and fifth-rounders Tyler Henson (Tuttle, Okla.) and Chris Davis (Navarro, Texas, College) are likely to sign professional contracts, but anything can happen. Attempts to reach Henson and Davis also were unsuccessful.

"There's still a chance I could come to Arkansas," Butler said. "But right now, I'm not 100 percent sure what I'm going to do. I haven't made any decisions."

Butler was planning to talk with his advisor in the next 24 hours in hopes of reaching a decision. Should things not work out with a professional contract, Butler said it's nice to know he has something to fall back on. However, last year's 81st pick signed for a $500,000 bonus.

"I haven't closed any doors because Arkansas is a great place," Butler said. "I went down there on my (official) visit and then we went down there for the Kentucky series and we loved it again. So there would be nothing wrong with going to Arkansas.

"For me, it's about whether I want to play in the College World Series or try to be the fastest guy through the minors.

"It's all about weighing the pros and cons right now."