It went down to the wire, but the Minnesota Twins didn't fumble the Walker Jenkins bag.
Things were looking dicey as Tuesday's deadline for teams to agree to deals with their first round picks neared. Every other team and prospect had come to terms expect Jenkins and the Twins, and it was starting to look like it might not happen.
Fans blamed Jenkins' agent Scott Boras, who probably wears that as badge of honor. The longer we went without a deal getting done the more it felt like Boras was holding out for a bigger slot bonus than the one assigned to the No. 5 overall pick.
In the end, not only did Jenkins sign a deal with the Twins before the deadline but he did so for barely above the slot total. Moreover, the Twins didn't have to break the budget for this year's draft class to get Jenkins signed, which seems like all of the drama was for a whole bunch of nothing.
Jenkins is finally under contract and the Twins have locked down a guy who might end up being a generational talent and key piece of their core in the future.
Twins News: Walker Jenkins Contract Details
Originally, the slot value for Jenkins was set at $7.1397M, but he ended up getting $7.1442M from the Twins after his little holdout. That's still a bargain for Minnesota given the level of talent Jenkins brings and how unlikely it was that they'd even be in a position to draft him in the first place.
Thanks to the MLB Draft Lottery, the Twins were able to move up to the No. 5 overall pick. Had the new CBA gone into effect and the lottery not been introduced, Minnesota would have picked 13th when Jenkins and the other top prospects would have long been off the board.
Had the Twins remained at No. 13, there's a chance they could have landed a guy who slipped down the draft board and would have had the chance to draft a potential impact prospect, but nothing like what they're getting in Jenkins.
Already he's being compared to Hall of Famer Larry Walker, and has been dubbed the best North Carolina prep prospect since Josh Hamilton back in 1999. Hamilton had a rocky career but started it out as a guy pegged to become what Bryce Harper became, and eventually revived his career to All-Star levels.
"He's a five-tool player," Twins amateur scouting director Sean Johnson said, via the Star Tribune. "We love his swing. We think he's going to have a chance for real power. He's a big kid, but he moves pretty well. He can really throw and we think he can really defend, so you can't ask for much more than that when you're looking for a high school prospect."
Jenkins is only 18 years old and won't be joining the Twins anytime soon, but his upside is absolutely insane. That's part of what was driving the anxiety about getting a deal done since the Twins shouldn't have been in a position to draft him in the first place and putting pen to paper would have made the heist official.
For a mere $7.1 million, the Twins pulled off one of the best steals of season.
Now that he has signed his deal and been introduced to the media, Jenkins is expected to report to Fort Myers on Friday.