The Twins have announced they have signed Walker Jenkins, their first-round pick from the recent draft. Jenkins will receive a signing bonus of $7.1442MM, slightly north of the $7.1397MM slot value for the fifth overall pick. Jenkins is the last of the first-rounders to get a deal done, with the deadline being 4pm CT today. Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic had previously reported that a deal was close and Jim Callis of MLB.com relayed the figures prior to the official announcement.
Jenkins, 18, is a left-handed hitting outfielder who was selected out of South Brunswick High School in Southport, North Carolina. Coming into the draft, there was broad consensus that the top three players available were Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews and Wyatt Langford, with each of Baseball America, MLB.com, ESPN, FanGraphs and Keith Law of The Athletic having those guys in the top spots in some order. There was also consensus about the next tier, as each of those five outlets had Jenkins and Max Clark in either the #4 or the #5 slot.
All the outlets have praise to dish out for all facets of his game, as he’s considered a quality bat-to-ball hitter who will also be capable of having 30-homer power someday. His speed, defensive acumen and arm strength all point to him being an above-average defender in right field, with a chance of sticking in center field not entirely off the table.
The fact that a talent such as his was available to the Twins is thanks to the new draft lottery system. MLB and the MLBPA agreed to implement a lottery as part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement. Minnesota benefited more than any other club in terms of jumping spots, as they had the 13th-worst record last year but jumped all the way up to get the fifth pick.
Skenes and Crews ended up going first and second, as many expected. The Tigers could have taken Langford third, but instead opted for Clark and signed him to a below-slot deal. That allowed the Rangers to take Langford with the fourth overall pick, signing to an above-slot deal. With four of the consensus top five players off the board, the Twins took the last of that remaining group in Jenkins. Though the negotiations were pushed to the last day, he’s now put pen to paper and will jump into the club’s system. Baseball America already considers him the #17 prospect in the entire league whereas Kiley McDaniel of ESPN said that Jenkins would immediately get his #21 ranking once he signed.
Better late than never
what in the world took so long, just to come
out basically at slot
Maybe wanted some College tuition money on top of the Signing bonus?
Btw, the Twins have a sh’t load of Outfielders now – Larnach, Kepler, Wallner, Jenkins, Gordon, Gallo, a few others.
Might be time to trade one for a Catcher ?
Catchers generally, and especially front line catchers, don’t change hands at the deadline.
Agreed, but wasn’t there more of a need for the Twins to draft Kyle Teel, the catcher from Virginia?
Not seeing much Catcher talent on the big league squad or even a Catcher listed in the Twins top 30 Prospects on MLBPipeline.com.
Ryan Jeffers Is a top 12 catcher In The league at the moment hands down…
Other than maybe Eddie Julien (Rookie) he’s been the most clutch hitter on the Club since June 1st.
How do you think the Twins have a top 3 pitching staff in terms of Runs allowed in the majors this year… without a true ace
Plus Vasquez is locked in till 2026
yeah, why do they need a C?
Jeffers is fine, but a lot of his production is tied up in his .389 BABIP despite being a fly ball hitter. He has good, but not elite overall exit velocity and a mediocre barrel rate so it can be expected his production will come way back down as things work themselves out.
Behind the plate, Jeffers hasn’t been credited with good framing, but he’s been throwing a lot of base runners out despite his slow pop time. Seems like anything which could go Jeffers’ way this year has.
That said, Jeffers seems adequate as a starting catcher. Behind him, there’s nothing of note in the Twins’ system, though.
@darkside830 because the minors are barren with catcher talent,
Considered a tier 2 draft pick, ranking him #17 or 21 in all of baseball is super aggressive. I guess there’s some hard core recency bias at play here. That said, nice to add a high quality prospect to what has been a beaten and battered farm system.
This year’s tier 2 is not in the same category as in other years. He would be the 1st or 2nd overall pick most years.
Finally – I had worries with him being a high schooler. Not that he woulda banked all that much more, but some parents push for the grounding and experience college can give instead of starting the career right at 18. Plenty of HS draftees where there earning died after their bonus because of the rigors of the sport.
Cubs signed Wiggins too. All the Cubs picks are now signed.
Is the picture taken by someone’s phone of a television?
On a flip phone no doubt