Marek Houston, selected 16th overall in the recent draft, has signed with the Twins for a signing bonus of $4,497,500, which is below the designated slot value. Houston excelled in defense during his time at Wake Forest but has shown mixed results with his batting. His home run count improved over three years, but doubts remain about the true power potential due to the favorable hitting conditions in his college park. With Carlos Correa currently at shortstop, Houston's future role could depend on his offensive development.
Houston, 21, spent the past three years playing for Wake Forest. Pre-draft rankings from MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN, FanGraphs and The Athletic's Keith Law all put Houston in the 14-26 range of the class.
All outlets heap praise upon his defense. The larger question seems to be what he can do with the bat, where his contact is better than his power.
Houston's home run total went from four to eight and then 15 in his three seasons with the Demon Deacons. However, even that jump in power may need an asterisk.
"The power is kind of an illusion, as Wake Forest plays in a shoebox, and 11 of Houston's 15 homers this year came at home," Law writes, "mostly wall-scrapers that would be doubles or outs in a typical ballpark."
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