The Orioles signed 22 players on Wednesday as the International Signing Period began. They were allotted $6,908,800 to sign international players and can use that money until December 15th. The Orioles did not use their entire allotment.
“I’m extremely excited about this class. We spread out our dollars,” Koby Perez, the Orioles’ vice president for international scouting, said in a video conference call from the team’s Dominican Republic Academy. “This process to get to today takes three years … We feel that our talent within those 22 players is going be really good and should show its way up our line, hopefully in the near future.”
The biggest name signed was 16-year-old shortstop José Luis Peña, the 47th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, from the Dominican Republic. Peña, who signed for a reported $1 million, was born on August 16th, 2008.
“He is very, very young for the class. Had he been born a few days later he’d be signing the following year,” Perez said. “We’ve had success, not only in this organization, but in others where these kids end up being much stronger and ahead of the game.
“He’s a plus-runner. We love his arm strength from shortstop. We think he can [stay a] shortstop. His power, we think has a chance to be average power in the future. Any time you’re talking about a premium shortstop who’s an athlete and can run, [and] you’re projecting average power, that’s something to be excited about.”
Peña, who said he modeled his game after longtime major league second baseman Robinson Cano, was eager to sign with the Orioles.
“They really wanted to sign me because of my different qualities and all the potential that I have,” he said through a translator. “I think we have a lot of really good coaches here. They’re constantly on top of you and they want you to continue to get better. Even through some of those failures, they continue to get on you and work with you to get past those mistakes and help you improve each and every day.”
Eleven of the 22 players signed are from the Dominican. Six are from Venezuela, four from Cuba and one from St. Thomas.
Cuban shortstop Meykel Baro, who is two days older than Peña, signed for a reported $500,000.
“He’s one of the kids we’re really excited about,” Perez said. “We’ve been working on him since watching him in international play … We feel that it’s a bat shortstop with defensive tools, athletic ability. He’s got all the ingredients.”
The other Cuban signees are switch-hitting catcher Yeison Acosta, shortstop Ronald Terrero and left-handed pitcher Yunior Villavicencio.
The Orioles have scouted the Cubans in international youth tournaments for several years.
“Being that we’ve been here for over five years, we have track records where we can make decisions on these players,” Perez said. “In Cuba, they play a lot of baseball where we’re able to have a lot of statistics from youth leagues and feel comfortable about them when they choose to defect and we try to capitalize on that.”
Outfielder Johanse Gómez was born in St. Thomas and moved to the Dominican Republic as a teenager. The 17-year-old is a native English speaker, Perez said.
“That puts a little bit ahead of the game as far as being able to communicate and adapting to the USA … We really like his bat. We think his bat is going to play. He’s a big strong kid, and [he’s] young. Sometimes they get very big. He may end up being a corner outfielder, but we feel good about the bat.”
Other players the Orioles feel most strongly about are 17-year-old Venezuelan catcher Jose Flores, 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Lisandro Sanchez and 16-year-old Dominican left-handed pitcher Kelvin Zapata
The other players signed are: 16-year-old catcher Ricardo Chirinos, 16-year-old outfielder Fabian Cordero, both from Venezuela, 16-year-old right-handed pitcher Alexander Diaz, 17-year-old shortstop Jorge Drullard, 17-year-old third baseman Frandy Guillen, 17-year old outfielder Rayner Herrera, 17-year-old right-hander pitcher RHP Enmanuel Peña, all from the Dominican Republic, 16-year-old Venezuelan catcher Victor Saez, 17-year-old right-handed pitcher Laurens Sosa from the Dominican Republic 16-year-old right-handed pitcher Samuel Teran from Venezuela, 16-year-old left-handed pitcher Darlin Valencio and 17-year-old right-handed pitcher Benjamin Vasquez, both from the Dominican and 16-year-old catcher Manuel Vasquez from Venezuela.