Twins 2020 MLB Draft Pick and Undrafted Free Agent Signing Tracker

[Andrew Thares]

In most years, the purpose of this article is reserved for tracking the signing each of the 40 plus Minnesota Twins draftees. This year, things will be a little different, as the entire draft system has been changed, which I am sure all of you know about by now. So, in addition to tracking the eventual signing of each of the Twins four draft picks, we will also be tracking when the Twins sign undrafted players, in the signing period that began Sunday morning at 8 a.m. CT.While the draft may be different, the bonus pool rules are still in place for the draft picks that were made. This year, the Twins have a total bonus pool allotment of just $4,528,600 to use across all four of their picks. If a player goes unsigned, the slot value for that particular pick is removed from the team’s total bonus pool.

 

For the players that went undrafted, they are allowed to sign for a maximum of a $20,000 signing bonus. How many players are actually willing to sign for this amount remains to be seen, but the ones that choose to do so with the Minnesota Twins will be tracked here, along with a brief background on each of those players, so you can get to know them a little bit better.

 

Bonus Pool Tracker:

 

Draft Picks Signed: 4 | Bonus Pool Used: $4,330,000 | Bonus Pool Remaining: $198,600

 

Pick Signings:

 

Round 1: Aaron Sabato | 1B | Slot Value: $2,570,100 | Signed For: Signed for $2,750,000

 

Round 2: Alerick Soularie | OF | Slot Value: $1,185,500 | Signed For: Signed for $900,000

 

Round 4: Marco Raya | RHP | Slot Value: $442,900 | Signed For: Signed for $410,000

 

Round 5: Kala’i Rosario | OF | Slot Value: $330,100 | Signed For: Signed for $270,000

 

Undrafted Free Agent Signings:

 

John Stankiewicz | RHP | Fordham

 

In three seasons pitching for the Fordham Rams, John Stankiewicz posted a career 2.00 ERA, with a 145 to 37 strikeout to walk ratio over 135 innings pitched. After spending 2018 in the bullpen, Stankiewicz transitioned to the starting rotation in 2019, where he took his game to the next level. In 17 starts (plus 4 relief appearances) since the start of the 2019 season, Stankiewicz dominated the competition, on his way to a 1.51 ERA over that span.

 

In 2019, Stankiewicz was named a 3rd-Team All-American by the ABCA, NCBWA, and Collegiate Baseball, and was also name the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, after finishing the season with the NCAA's 6th lowest ERA (1.47) and 9th lowest WHIP (.901).

 

 

Lucas Sweany | LHP | Pacific

 

Lucas Sweany is a 6'6" junior LHP from the University of the Pacific. In three career seasons for the Tigers, Sweany has made 13 starts and 25 relief appearances to the tune of a 4.62 ERA. Sweany has also tallied 93 strikeouts and 32 walks in 113 career innings pitched.

 

Allante Hall | C | Pensacola State

 

After spending the 2019 season at Howard College where he had a .273/.431/.432 slash line in 22 games, Allante Hall transfer to Pensacola State, where he put up a .214/.340/.262 slash line 13 games before the season was cut short. Hall was ranked by Perfect Game as the 38th best catching prospect coming out of high school in 2018, and was originally committed to Arkansas before ending up at Howard College.

 

 

Zarion Sharpe | LHP | University of North Carolina Wilmington

 

Zarion Sharpe is the third pitcher that the Twins have added thus far in the undrafted free agency process. In four seasons at UNCW, Sharpe threw 157 innings, with 33 of his 38 career appearances coming as a starting pitcher. For his career, Sharpe has a 4.07 ERA (2.18 in 4 starts in 2020), while striking out 147 batters and walking 60. Sharpe was teammates with Twins prospect Ryan Jeffers his first two seasons at UNCW. Jeffers caught Sharpe nine times in those two seasons, so if they were to link up at the same level in the future, there is already some built in familiarity there.

 

Willy Diaz Vasquez | SS | Prairie Baseball Academy HS, Lethbridge, Alberta

 

Willy Diaz Vasquez is the lone high school player that the Twins have signed in undrafted free agency. Diaz Vasquez is originally from the Dominican Republic, but played his high school ball in Alberta, Canada.

 

Other Twins Draft Related Articles

Minnesota Twins 2020 MLB Draft Recap

What's Next for the Twins and Undrafted Players?

Twins Continue to Load the Corners in 2020 Draft

 

MORE FROM TWINS DAILY

— Latest Twins coverage from our writers

— Recent Twins discussion in our forums

— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email

— Follow Andrew Thares on Twitter here

 

Click here to view the article

[Yoke]

Got one guy signed:

[Monkeypaws]

That curveball has some stank!

[ashbury]

Good body type apparently. If he can keep his good curveball after they completely retool his delivery in search of a 95 MPH heater, he'll have a chance.

[rdehring]

Looking at the little information given on him, hard to believe he wasn't drafted. But I guess that's what happens with a 5 round draft. Sure seems to be someone we would have been happy with had the Twins taken him in the eighth or ninth round?

 

But I know less than nothing about baseball in the Atlantic 10 conference. Looked them up and see they are a 14 school conference with 13 playing baseball. Looks like most are smaller schools known for basketball...Dayton, Rhode Island, VCU, Saint Louis. Doesn't mean there isn't a future Cy Young pitcher playing at one of them...could we be so fortunate to have found him?

 

Am a little disappointed the Twins have signed only one. Does anyone know how many other teams have on the dotted line? Guess this isn't like NFL teams signing undrafted guys the night the draft ends, eh?

[twinsfanstreif]

Great name, great curve ball, great body type, great production, $20k, what's not to like?!

[twinsfanstreif]

Any reason why the Twins have only signed one guy so far? Several teams have signed 5+, the Cubs are at 8. Are we just a bit slow or do we not plan on signing a whole lot of guys?

[bunsen82]

 

Any reason why the Twins have only signed one guy so far? Several teams have signed 5+, the Cubs are at 8. Are we just a bit slow or do we not plan on signing a whole lot of guys?

Small market teams I expected to be at disadvantage in this format unless players feel the organization is superior at developing the talent.  The first being players now have the options to pick which team to sign at for the ridiculously low amount.  So the teams that have huge fan bases will have a couple advantages.  The first being if the players were fans they may be more willing to sign with that team to say, I was signed by the Cubs or Yankees.  The next is to think long term and say if I do make it, I may be able to make more on long term contract with a large market or mid market team than a small market team. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Any reason why the Twins have only signed one guy so far? Several teams have signed 5+, the Cubs are at 8. Are we just a bit slow or do we not plan on signing a whole lot of guys?

 

I think the biggest challenge for the Twins to overcome in this silly format is the fact that the organization is absolutely loaded at this point. If you're a player, and have a choice, do you want to go to an organization that is loaded or an organization that is considered weak and you might be able to move up? 

 

Of the 67 players signed on Day 1, just two were high school kids... and it was shocking there were that many. Most of the guys making themselves eligible aren't necessarily the guys who would have been going in rounds 6-10. They probably weren't. Those guys are going to college. So, I think the Twins have a plan and a priority. 

 

[DocBauer]

Following up Seth's comment, over the weekend I was reflecting on the draft as well as the current TOP 10 lists for Twins prospects. Basically, 12 names make up the various top 10 lists, whether from TD or Baseball America or whoever. Now I'm not saying the Twins had a poor draft last week at all. But the system is so deep and strong right now that I honestly don't think any of our 4 new selections will bump anyone out of any top 10 list.

 

When is the last time you could say something like that?

[Monkeypaws]

In case you were wondering how other teams were doing, Baseball America has a tracker. Spoiler: while the Red Sox have signed 10, the Indians and White Sox are stuck on 0.

 

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2020-mlb-undrafted-free-agent-tracker-agreements-for-all-30-teams/

[rdehring]

I am beginning to see that there may be two sides to every story. We all thought the Twins would have an advantage being able to tell guys, hey, we haven't cut anyone and we are paying all our minor leaguers thru August. On the flip side, Boston COULD be telling them, hey, we cut a bunch of guys to open spots for players like you (I don't know how many, if any, Boston cut). They could then point out the Twins, and others, haven't meaning they really don't have an open spot for you to have a real chance.

 

And we all know that in the world of recruiting, anything goes. I recall an assistant hockey coach a long time ago who was way north in some small Alberta town recruiting a really good goalie. Remember being told the clincher was he promised the kid he would start 50 games the next year. Only problem is his team only played 32. The kid believed him and if memory serves, was an all-american a few years later.

[bunsen82]

Well, my initial post appears to be more accurate that not.  The larger markets as a whole have done better, however, the Royals have been a major outlier, not only with the number of signees, but the quality of their signees.  They have found something in their messaging that has clicked.  And with a farm system ranked at 18, its not as if the farm system was absolute bare, however, there will be a lot of open spots on the big league roster available to prospects in the upcoming years.  The red sox being ranked as the #3 farm system, shows my initial theory big leagues team would have an advantage signing players.  I am curious if those players would have been drafted after round 25 or higher which would cause for more signees, but not necessarily any one that moves the needle. 

[Trov]

I have not looked into the expected quality of the players that have signed.  More of a deep dive than I am willing to invest in. However, it is interesting to see which teams have signed the number they have.  First, it is small investment to bring someone in so very little risk, even for the, liquid cash strapped teams, a little bit of jest there.  I would agree with assessments that teams with not as deep of farm systems would be best, or systems known for developing certain type of players.  For some, it may be where would they by playing in minors next year, closer to family ect.  Many things would go into a decision when each team has same cash offer. 

[SarasotaBill]

With one less team (Eliz.) next year maybe the Twins are being selective and not interested in adding quantity.

[twinsfanstreif]

Wolfson is also saying we signed a guy named Allante Hall. All I could find was that he's a catcher and his stats were pretty poor. Anyone got anything else?

[Monkeypaws]

Lucas Sweany, 6'6" junior LHP out of the University of the Pacific, is all ours.

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=sweany000luc

[DocBauer]

Honesty, I never expected much to come out of this FA draft stuff. Some guys just wouldn't want to go back to school or wouldn't be allowed to come back. But unless your college wouldn't allow you back, or was simply so strapped financially to have you back, you were always better off going back for another season.

 

We can talk about the $20K, but that's after the 1st 10 rounds or more anyway when it comes to bonuses. So if you have the option, why not go back, have fun, work on your game, hope for some $ with a better draft position with a normal year.

 

Twins get a couple fliers, great. Otherwise, I'm just focused on what is on hand, worried about milb in 2020, worried about any sort of real MLB in 2020, pissed at both sides, worried about the future of MLB, still pissed at both sides, and just want to see some baseball.

[drivlikejehu]

The hit rate on guys getting $20,000 bonuses is extremely low. Even signing a huge number of them would leave a very small chance of getting a meaningful MLB contributor, putting aside the fact that there has to be somewhere for them to play within the organization. I know there's nothing else going on, but the whole undrafted free agent thing is not significant from a future standpoint.

[rdehring]

 

The hit rate on guys getting $20,000 bonuses is extremely low. Even signing a huge number of them would leave a very small chance of getting a meaningful MLB contributor, putting aside the fact that there has to be somewhere for them to play within the organization. I know there's nothing else going on, but the whole undrafted free agent thing is not significant from a future standpoint.

Here you and agree. Have been wondering if MLB and the MLBPA can't come to agreement, soon, and trash this season, will teams get a couple minor league teams on the field to give us some baseball? Maybe have two teams, one AA/AAA and the other A players, playing out of the Florida complex? Get FSN to televise games for a nickel on the dollar of what they would pay for the Twins? 

 

As you can tell, I really want to watch baseball, any baseball.

[snap4birds]

 

 

As you can tell, I really want to watch baseball, any baseball.

 

Well, come on down to Iowa.  High school baseball games started yesterday :-).

[rdehring]

 

Well, come on down to Iowa.  High school baseball games started yesterday :-).

Does Iowa still play their high school games in the summer?

[snap4birds]

 

Does Iowa still play their high school games in the summer?

Yes.  I think only one other state does, too, but I can't remember which one.  State tournaments usually started the first week of July for softball and a week later for baseball.

[rdehring]

I expect like many of you, I check this post four or five times a day hoping to see that the Twins have signed another player or two. So far have been met with a lot of disappointment. Even went to other team sites a couple days ago to see who they were signing. Although I know absolutely zip about any of the players signed by those teams who have been reporting the bigger number of signings, I didn't see any players that I said 'ah shucks,' wish we would have gotten him.

 

To be honest, the numbers reported for Stankiewicz are a lot more interesting than anything I saw on the other sites...although I only checked the Cubs and one other team. Hopefully, we will see a few more guys added to the Twins roster over the coming days.

[Rigby]

Zarion Sharpe   P   UNC-Wilmington

[Seth Stohs]

 

Wolfson is also saying we signed a guy named Allante Hall. All I could find was that he's a catcher and his stats were pretty poor. Anyone got anything else?

 

Good athlete. Defense first.  

[Seth Stohs]

 

The hit rate on guys getting $20,000 bonuses is extremely low. Even signing a huge number of them would leave a very small chance of getting a meaningful MLB contributor, putting aside the fact that there has to be somewhere for them to play within the organization. I know there's nothing else going on, but the whole undrafted free agent thing is not significant from a future standpoint.

 

It's very low. So a lot of guys who felt they could have been taken in Rounds 6-10, they would have received $125K to $300K. 

 

I know that the Twins just learned today of a player who was being courted by a few teams. He was legitimately a guy who would have been drafted in the 6-8 round range. Even next year, as a senior, he's got the kind of tools that should get him drafted there and he'll still have leverage so he should get $150,000+ next year. 

 

One of the guy they did sign maybe was a guy who would have gone between 11-13 rounds. That is still a $100K guy. That again illustrates how low $20K is.

[Tom Froemming]

I'll take any 6'6" lefty with a K:BB ratio of nearly 3. Sweany has an interesting profile to try to build upon.

[Doctor Gast]

I too, didn`t expect much w/ this free for all. I didn`t expect anyone worth anything to sign. Even a college senior could go back for another year of eligibility. We got 2 big college pitchers. Stankiewicz shows the most promise, Sweany is a reliever, do they ever work out? Hope they both turn out.

[MN_ExPat]

 

Yes.  I think only one other state does, too, but I can't remember which one.  State tournaments usually started the first week of July for softball and a week later for baseball.

 

Georgia does as well (sort of).  A lot of HS teams will play together as showcase or travel clubs during the summer and fall.   That's what my son's team does, whole team plays as a travel team (And they are pretty darn good to boot.  They get a lot of wide eyes at tourneys).

 

There is a very good reason so many players come out of Georgia and Florida