Twins blow past slot to land a triple-digit prep arm

The Twins didn't stop being aggressive once they got the No. 3 overall pick signed. Down in the third round, at pick No. 79, they went after a Colorado prep arm who had a Power4 commitment sitting in his back pocket and a fastball that scouts couldn't stop talking about.

Jim Callis

@jimcallisMLB

3rd-rder Ethan Wachsmann signs w/@Twins for $2.25 million (slot 79 value = $1,052,700). Colorado prep RHP, fastball reached 100 mph this spring, flashes plus curveball. @WakeBaseball recruit. @MLBDraft

According to Jim Callis, Ethan Wachsmann signed with Minnesota for $2.25 million against a slot value of just $1,052,700 for pick No. 79. That's more than double slot for a kid who wasn't even a lock to sign — he had already committed to Wake Forest before the draft. The Twins clearly decided that number was worth paying to keep him out of a college uniform.

The appeal is obvious. Wachsmann, a 6-foot-5 righty out of Grandview High School in Aurora, had his fastball touching 100 mph this spring, and it came with a curveball scouts already grade as a real weapon. He backed the stuff up with results too — a 6-2 record, 2.10 ERA and 66 strikeouts in just 36 2/3 innings his senior year, capped by a no-hitter against Mullen. For his career he ran a 2.59 ERA with 173 strikeouts across 108 innings and threw no-hitters in back-to-back seasons. Some evaluators reportedly had him talked about as first-round-caliber stuff, which makes a third-round landing spot look like a bit of a steal if Minnesota's player development staff gets it right.

It's not an isolated splurge, either. This is the same draft class where the Twins handed No. 3 overall pick Vahn Lackey a $9.5 million bonus, the third-largest in draft history and just shy of the assigned slot value. Pair that with going nearly $1.2 million over slot for a third-rounder, and the pattern is clear: Minnesota decided this was the year to spend bonus pool money like it's burning a hole in their pocket, prioritizing upside and signability over saving a few bucks for later rounds.

For a Twins org that's leaned heavily on pitching development in recent years, adding a prep arm with a triple-digit fastball and a real breaking ball gives their farm system another high-ceiling project. Wachsmann won't be pitching meaningful innings for years, but if that arm strength translates, $2.25 million will look like a bargain — especially next to the $9.5 million they just wrote for a college catcher at the top of the same draft.