According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Twins signed 16-year-old left-hander Lewis Thorpe from Australia. Some scouts consider him the top amateur available in Australia this year. The Twins gave him a $500K bonus.

This according to BA:

 

The Twins have agreed to sign Lewis Thorpe, a lefthander from Australia.

Several teams considered Thorpe, 16, the top prospect in Australia for July 2. Thorpe pitched in the 16-and-under World Championship in Mexico last August and in the MLB Australian Academy last year, when he had a 3.90 ERA in 30 innings with 37 strikeouts and 15 walks. He's 6 feet, 175 pounds with good feel for pitching, a fastball that sits 86-88 mph and has topped out at 91 along with feel to spin a breaking ball.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/2012/07/twins-agree-to-sign-australian-lefthander-lewis-thorpe/

Teams are now signing players born in 1996... wow.

Teams are now signing players born in 1996... wow.

Yep. And the are drafting kids who were born in '94. And that hit me, because that is when my oldest kid was born... we all are getting old...

Good, I miss the Twins having 20 Aussies in their system at a time.

86-88 does not sound that special but I suppose at 16 there is room to add a few MPH to that fastball

OTOH 37 K's in 30 innings doesn't sound bad.

OTOH 37 K's in 30 innings doesn't sound bad.

sixteen year old ball in Australia... I still need to figure out what it means, but I suspect the level of competition is less that than of an urban US high school area. Maybe like rural US high school competition. At that level, a kid with a decent curve ball (I mean average curveball) which can be thrown for strikes, will strike out every other batter. So 37K in 30 IP is not that out of the question...

 

Just need to understand the level of competition better. He has not played in the pro circuit in Australia and is relatively unknown there (I asked an Aussie pitcher who played pro ball in the US what he thought of him and he said that he has never heard of him before the Twins signed him.) He has been flying under the radar.

He can already hit 91 from the same BA report, and at 16, he's still adding velocity. The kid could reasonably top out in the mid 90s if things progress. I like that signing. They shoudl be signing lots of pitchers in the international market.