No deal was finalized until the eleventh hour, but first-round pick Walker Jenkins finally donned a Twins uniform at a news conference Tuesday ahead of the league's 4 p.m. signing deadline.
Jenkins, the No. 5 overall pick, signed for a $7.1442 million bonus. He was the last first-rounder to agree to a contract.
"It's really just been a lot of hanging around, working out and hitting baseballs," said the 18-year-old Jenkins, a 6-3, 212-pound outfielder out of South Brunswick High School in North Carolina.
Both Derek Falvey, the Twins' president of baseball operations, and Jenkins' agent, Scott Boras, insisted they weren't worried about completing a deal. The team announced the signing, which exhausted their draft bonus pool funds, about 90 minutes before the deadline.
Teams can exceed their draft bonus pools by 5%, if they choose to pay a 75% tax on the overage, without losing future draft picks. The Twins and the Rockies are the only teams who have never exceeded their bonus pools.
"We knew he wanted to be a Minnesota Twin," Falvey said, "and Scott relayed that."
After visiting Target Field — videoboards read "The Twins welcome Walker Jenkins and his family to Minnesota" — Jenkins will report to Fort Myers, Fla., and begin preparing to play in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.
Jenkins, a lefthanded hitter, stands out with his power through a compact swing. He's expected to begin his pro career as a center fielder.