Twins land draft duel hero Steele Murdock for $509K

Every draft class has a name normal fans never hear until deep into signing season, and this year that name is Steele Murdock. The UC San Diego right-hander went in the 5th round to the Twins at pick 139, and on July 22 Jim Callis confirmed the deal is done: $509,500, just under the $536,900 slot value attached to that pick.

Jim Callis

@jimcallisMLB

5th-rder Steele Murdock signs w/@Twins for $509,500 (slot 139 value = $536,900). @UCSDbsb RHP, struck out 17 in duel vs. No. 4 overall pick Jackson Flora, fastball sits at 92-94 mph and reaches 99, mid-80s slider is best pitch. @MLBDraft

The number itself is unremarkable as far as 5th-round bonuses go. What makes Murdock worth a second look is the game that put him on the map. Back on April 10, UCSD beat UC Santa Barbara 4-3, and Murdock was the guy on the mound making it happen — 8 innings, 17 strikeouts, just 1 run allowed on 3 hits with zero walks. It set a new UCSD single-game strikeout record, breaking the previous mark of 13 by more than a full third.

The opponent that day is what turns a nice college start into a legitimate signature win. UCSB's Jackson Flora was in the middle of a 37.2-inning scoreless streak and entered as one of the top arms in the entire draft class. Murdock's Tritons snapped that streak and beat him outright. Three months later, Flora went No. 4 overall to the Giants and signed for $7,997,500. Murdock, the guy who out-pitched him that day, went 134 picks later for a fraction of the bonus.

Scouting notes on Murdock line up with what that outing showed: a fastball that sits 92-94 and touches 99, paired with a mid-80s slider that's reportedly his best pitch. Over 2 seasons at UCSD he posted a 5-6 record with a 5.37 ERA, 146 strikeouts and 72 walks in 119 innings — a stat line that screams swing-and-miss stuff without full command, exactly the kind of profile that makes a team like the Twins bet on the arm and figure the rest out in pro ball.

Minnesota's player development group has already had luck mining UCSD arms — Murdock joins 2025 Tritons draftee Matthew Dalquist in the organization. For a program that isn't exactly a national blue blood, getting a second guy into an org pipeline in back-to-back years is a real inflection point, and Murdock's record-setting strikeout night against the eventual No. 4 overall pick is the kind of moment that gets him fast-tracked onto prospect radars this offseason.