Minnesota Twins sign Jacob Younis

At the tender age of 16, Jacob Younis from Sydney's west has agreed to terms with the Minnesota Twins Baseball Club. Jacob will report in April 2011 to extended spring training at the Twins Fort Myers complex in Florida.

The talented baseball player welcomed interest from several organizations over the past year and as the interest continued to expand for the slick fielding short stop the probability of offers to sign professionally increased.

Following the Australian High School Baseball Championships in Perth, where Jacob excelled, the Minnesota Twins made contact with Jacob's Manager Craig Stoves to gauge the possibility of signing the gifted infielder. This contact resulted in a firm offer being placed on the table. Further discussions with several organizations were put in motion and following these talks a subsequent offer was put forward from a second organization. Discussions and negotiations continued over the next couple of weeks and the Minnesota Twins who showed a high level of interest in the young prospect secured Jacob's signature with a solid six figure deal.

Howie Norsetter, the Minnesota Twins scout, who positioned himself well in securing the services of the exciting athlete, communicated his thoughts after the signing by saying "The Minnesota Twins have been following Jacob for quite some time. We are very happy that he has chosen to play professional baseball with the Minnesota Twins. He is a dedicated, hard working young man who has the necessary ingredients to climb the minor league ladder to the Major Leagues. He is a Twins type prospect. I have no doubt that he will work hard to develop the tools and skills necessary to contribute in the Major Leagues with the Twins. It is a credit to his family, his coaches, and his teammates that Jacob has been able to progress and succeed, and we look forward to his further development in the Twins' minor leagues. Jacob will finish his final year of High School in Australia and report next year to extended spring training where he will play in the GCL."

Jacob, currently at the renowned Major League Baseball Australian Academy, on Queensland's Gold Coast, is thrilled with the knowledge of now heading to the USA as a professional baseball player and spoke briefly on his signing by saying. "My family have given me a lot of support with my baseball commitments and I know their strong support will continue as I progress onto professional baseball. This next step in baseball will be a small step to paying them back for all they have done for me. I am really excited to sign with such a great organization as the Twins - they have, and have had a lot of Australians through their system and I know they are a really good organization."

Jacob started playing baseball at the age of 6 with the Baulkham Hills Baseball Club in Sydney's North West and over the years he advanced through the Hills system to where he played 1st grade baseball this past summer season.

Representative honours have been a regular part of Jacob's progress having been selected to the Hills representative team at the under 12, 14 & 16 age brackets. At the under 12 age group Jacob toured Japan twice as a member of a New South Wales Team.

In 2006 Jacob was rewarded for his exceptional baseball play by gaining selection to the Australian Team to compete in the Cal Ripken World Series. During this prestigious World Series event Jacob performed to such a grand level that he was chosen as the starting short stop for the World All-Star Team.

Following on from this outstanding feat were even more stellar accomplishments. Selection to the New South Wales State teams at the under 14, 16 & 18 age brackets where Jacob competed at the Australian Baseball Championships. Also during this same period there was representation at the high school baseball level with the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges Team and The New South Wales All Schools Team.

2009 saw Jacob compete in the New South Wales All Schools Team in Canberra at the Australian High School Baseball Championships where he was rewarded with the Golden Glove for his fine play. His fine play saw him selected to the Australian High School Team.

Also in 2009 Jacob gained a position on the roster for the MLB Australian Academy which culminated in selection to the Australian "AA" Team to compete at the World Baseball Championships in Taiwan. Former Major Leaguer Glenn Williams, an assistant coach with this Australian Team and current NSW High Performance Baseball Manager, was pleased to hear of Jacob's signing and shared the following comments by saying. "I was extremely pleased to hear about Jacob's signing with the Twins. Since my employment with BNSW he has been an integral member of BNSW representative teams and a member of our High performance programs. He has always shown a great work ethic and willingness to improve his game and his signing is a just reward for that effort. I have no doubt that Jacob will continue to work very hard on improving his game and is well aware of the work that lies ahead of him in regards to professional baseball. I am sure he will get the most out of his ability and will be a great addition to Twins organization."

In 2010 Jacob again represented the New South Wales All Schools team in the Australian High School Baseball Championships in Perth, with NSW taking out the Championships. At tournaments end Jacob was selected to the Australian High School All-Star Team and rewarded for his superb play with the MVP of the Grand Final game as well as the MVP for the entire tournament. Quite an accomplishment!

June 2010 again sees Jacob on the roster for the MLB Australian Academy where he will press hard for the duration of camp for selection to the Australian "AAA" Team which will compete at the World Baseball Championships in Canada.

Jacob's Manager, Craig Stoves of Platinum Player Management, who provided guidance and support long before the signing and who handled the negotiation process, shared his thoughts on his client's recent signing by saying "Jacob is a quiet, yet fierce competitor on the baseball field and he strives very hard for success. He is a committed player who has a professional approach and prides himself on becoming a standout at each level he plays ball. I feel confident that Jacob will be a standout at each level he plays in the professional baseball system."

With April 2011 being just around the corner and the commencement of Jacob's first professional season, there is another important matter at hand for Jacob, and this is his successful completion of High School. While this is a challenging assignment to complete, and one that Jacob will handle well, the exciting challenge ahead that Jacob looks forward to is his professional baseball career.

Jacob has an exciting future to look forward to as a professional baseball player and those close to Jacob know very well that he will handle this exciting challenge with a great deal of competence.