The Twins have issued a press release to announce the signing of No. 4 overall pick Kohl Stewart. The 18-year-old prep right-hander is advised by Darek Braunecker of Frontline Athlete Management. Stewart signed for the full slot value of $4,544,400, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter).
Stewart was a consensus Top 10 talent in this year's draft, ranking fourth overall according to ESPN's Keith Law, fifth according to Baseball America and seventh according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo. Law wrote that Stewart has four legitimate pitches, two of which have a chance to end up as 70-grade offerings on the 20-80 scouting scale. Those would be his 92-94 mph fastball (which touches 97) and his 85-88 mph slider with late break. In the above tweet, Callis notes that Stewart has drawn comparisons to Justin Verlander when pitching at his best.
Stewart had a football commitment to Texas A&M, where he would have served as a back-up to Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel at quarterback. He is the second consecutive high school player drafted by the Twins. Minnesota selected outfielder Byron Buxton with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2012 draft.
With Stewart's signing, 23 of this year's 33 first-round selections have agreed to terms or signed with their first professional organization.
