Keoni Cavaco To Transition To Pitching, Signs Minor League Deal With Astros
The Astros have signed Keoni Cavaco to a minor league deal, reports Kenny Van Doren of MLB Pipeline on X. Cavaco was released by the Twins earlier this month, as relayed by JJ Cooper of Baseball America on X. Per Darren Wolfson of SKOR North on X, the youngster is attempting a transition to pitching and the Astros were one of two teams who requested the move to the mound.
Going into the 2019 draft, Baseball America ranked Cavaco #31 among the available players that year. Their report at that time, when Cavaco had just turned 18, highlighted his immense natural tools. He had shown huge power and speed, as well as having strong third base defense with a plus arm for the hot corner. The biggest question mark was his hitting ability, as some swing-and-miss concerns were already present at the high school level.
That one area of concern wasn’t enough to tamp down the general level of excitement. FanGraphs was even more bullish than BA, putting Cavaco at #22 in the draft. The Twins selected him with the 13th overall pick and signed him to bonus of $4.05MM, $192K below slot value for that pick.
But that high-risk, high-reward play from the Twins has led to no reward at all, as those concerns about his hit tool proved to be prescient. He stepped to the plate 1,110 times while in the Twins’ system but hit just .212/.267/.335. He struck out in 36.8% of his plate appearances and walked only 6.3% of the time. He never advanced higher than the High-A level before being released.
Prior to being let go, he did make three appearances on the mound this year. He tossed two scoreless innings at the High-A level, with two strikeouts and no walks. Even as a high schooler, his arm at third base was considered to be strong, so he will try to use that to improve his job prospects going forward.
For the Astros, there’s little harm in signing a minor league deal and seeing what happens. There’s never been any doubt about Cavaco’s athletic gifts, so perhaps he can forge a path towards the big leagues on the mound instead of at the plate. Though he was drafted five years ago, he is only 23 years old and still has time to shift gears.
Twins Sign Keoni Cavaco
The Twins announced Tuesday that they’ve signed first-round pick Keoni Cavaco. The deal will pay Cavaco $4.05MM according to Jim Callis of MLB.com, who first reported the signing (via Twitter). That comes in $192K under slot value for the No. 13 overall pick. Cavaco will head to the Twins’ Rookie-level affiliate in the Gulf Coast League, the team announced in today’s release.
An 18-year-old out of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, Calif., Cavaco’s draft stock soared this spring. He wasn’t considered to be a first-round talent earlier in the year and was ranked a bit further down the board than the Twins’ selection. Fangraphs tabbed Cavaco as the draft’s No. 22 prospect, while MLB.com ranked him 28th and Baseball America ranked him 31st. Reports in the days leading up to the draft strongly tied Minnesota to Cavaco, though, and it’s highly unlikely that he’d have lasted to the Twins’ next pick.
Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen wrote that a growth spurt boosted Cavaco’s draft stock, adding that he has the “best frame” in the class and had grown into a considerable power surge. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com wrote that Cavaco has potential plus power and could develop into a plus defender at third base, but he’s a work in progress both in the field and at the plate. He’s a high-risk, high-reward prospect who’ll add to a well-regarded Twins farm system that is headlined by 2017 No. 1 overall pick Royce Lewis.