In what feels like true Minnesota Sports fashion, the Twins are on the verge of losing a potentially generational talent after he miraculously fell into their laps during the MLB Draft.
Thanks to the new CBA, the MLB has started using a draft lottery system to determine its draft order. This is the same system that the NHL and NBA use, and it creates an opportunity for a team that might not have a top pick to end up with one by a stroke of luck from the baseball gods.
This is exactly what played out for the Twins this year, as they moved up from the No. 13 overall pick to No. 5 thanks to how the lottery worked out. What this did was put the organization in a position to draft a top talent, which ended up happening when Minnesota selected Walker Jenkins.
Jenkins is regarded as the best high school player in the country and was even talked about as a potential No. 1 overall pick throughout the draft process. He's already been compared to a Hall of Fame slugger and fits right into the Twins future core as a guy who could be one of the next great players to come through the franchise.
That is, of course, if he signs his deal.
The deadline to agree to terms with first round picks was 4 pm CT on July 25th, and as the deadline approaches Jenkins is the only guy still without a deal. That begs the question of what happens in the event the Twins somehow don't sign him and end up without a first round prospect after the whole journey they went on to get to this point?
There's compensation for the Twins if they don't end up signing Jenkins, but it's hardly as great as landing a potentially generational talent.
What happens if the Twins don't sign Walker Jenkins?
Not signing Jenkins is obviously a nightmare scenario, but it's not the end of the world in terms of the Twins getting a top draft pick. If a team doesn't sign its first round pick it doesn't simply lose that pick forever, the league allows for a do-over of sorts the following year.
If a team fails to sign its first round pick, the compensation is a future first rounder the following year minus one spot. For example, the Twins selected Jenkins with the No. 5 pick in this year's draft which means they'd get the No. 6 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. This would be in addition to the first round pick they already get in the draft and could mean two top picks if they get another good bounce in the lottery.
All of that seems fine, but the hope of landing a generational talent with a top pick pales in comparrison with actually doing it. The Twins got lucky by getting a Top 5 pick thanks to the lottery and ended up with a guy who could have gone No. 1 overall.
Twins fans can rest assured that there will be some