UK will have a new starting shortstop next season. Chris Wade, a two-year starter at shortstop, has signed a contract to play professional baseball with the Florida Marlins.

The former Freshman All-American will depart Lexington after two seasons with the Cats. Wade hit .313 in 2009 with six home runs, 10 doubles and 42 BRI. That came after a freshman season in which he led the Southeastern Conference in doubles with 24 in addition to five homers and 51 RBI.

Wade’s signing comes as a bit of a surprise, but it’s not shocking. He was expected to be one of the premiere shortstops in all of college baseball as a junior next year and he would have been one of the top players in the SEC without question.

The Florida Marlins picked Wade with the 338th overall pick in the 11th round of the 2009 MLB Draft. UK cannot release the details of Wade's contract.

Typically, losing a player of Wade’s caliber would hurt pretty badly, but head coach Gary Henderson has another highly touted shortstop in Andy Burns waiting in the wings.

Burns played in 50 games last year where he saw time at third base, shortstop and even a few outs at second base. He hit .287 in his freshman campaign with seven home runs and 33 RBI. He was named the No. 38 overall prospect by Baseball America coming out of high school.

One area he’ll need to improve upon if he is indeed to take over the starting shortstop position is his defense. He committed 13 errors in 2009.