The Minnesota Twins and first-round pick Walker Jenkins are close to agreeing to terms and a deal is expected to be reached before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. CT deadline, according to Twins insider Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic.
Industry source: #MNTwins are nearing completion on a contract with first-round pick Walker Jenkins.
Jenkins, the #5 pick in the draft and the last unsigned first-round pick across MLB, is in Minnesota.
Everything is tracking to be finalized before today's 4 pm deadline.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) July 25, 2023
According to MLB.com, Jenkins’s slot value as the No. 5 pick calls for a signing bonus of $7,139,700. It’s unclear how much the deal is worth, but Jim Callis of MLB Network says the max the Twins can pay Jenkins if they pay 5% more than his slot value is $7,861,480.
Paying higher than slot value comes with penalties. Paying between 0-5% above slot value results in a 75% tax on the overage. Paying 6% or more over slot value can result in the loss of future picks and a 75% tax.
The Twins started the draft process with a bonus pool of $14,345,600 to give to draft picks taken in the first ten rounds. So far, per MLB.com, they have spent $7,041,400, which leaves them $7,304,200 for Jenkins.
The first overall pick in the draft, LSU right-hander Paul Skenes, agreed to a $9.2 million signing bonus, just over a half-million dollars less than his slot value.
The second pick, LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, received a $9 million signing bonus from the Nationals, which is a sliver more than his slot value of $8,988,500.
Third overall pick Maxx Clark, a high school outfielder who was taken by the Tigers, had a slot value of $8,341,700 and he took $7.7 million.
Fourth overall pick Wyatt Langford, a college outfielder from Florida, got an $8 million signing bonus which was more than his slot value of $7,698,000.
