The Angels International Amateur Signing Breakdown
Jan 16, 2025 - Written by Noah Pohle
Photo Credit : @FrancysRomeroFR - X
Baseball is so brilliant and beloved in no small part because of its diversity. Cheering for your hometown and cultural stars alike brings us as fans that much closer to baseball, and there is plenty of representation throughout the Major Leagues today, with 26 countries graced to call a big leaguer theirs and plenty more countries rooting for their minor leaguers. While our domestic stars are subjected to the Amateur Draft, which comes around every summer to inject talent into every teams’ farm, there are much more diverse routes for international players to take. For foreign players to come to MLB, they can wait until they are over 25 and a Free Agent in their home country’s professional league, as we saw last year with guys such as Yariel Rodríguez, Jung Hoo Lee and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Players like these are posted, and thus eligible to negotiate any contract with any league. However, there are some rare cases, such as Roki Sasaki this year and Shohei Ohtani before him, where a player convinces his team to make him available to the most talented environment globally. These players are posted, and then subjected to International Amateur Free Agent rules, which is a system constructed for players above 16 years old and not yet playing professionally. Most players that sign from this group are Latin American baseball kids who are only just beginning to learn who they are as players, much less as individuals, but every once in a while a more experienced talent like Ohtani or Sasaki becomes available. This signing period opened on Wednesday, January 15th, meaning plenty of young prospects will be getting an official start to their professional careers, not to mention that Sasaki is officially able to make a decision. 18 young athletes inked their name on a piece of Angels parchment yesterday, and here are their names:
Photo Credit : @LAAngelsPR - X
Perry’s Historical International Track Record
2021 was General Manager Perry Minasian’s inaugural one, and thus his first International Signing period. His big prize came in the form of Denzer Guzman, a slick shortstop with tangible power. So far the swing still shows holes, and he has struck out in nearly 30% of his minor league plate appearances. His rate did drop to 26% in AA last year, but he still has plenty to work on. The Angels signed seven players at the start of this period, and only two remain with the team: Guzman and left-hander Luis Viloria, who struggled in 2024 after showing promise on the Complex in the years prior. It seems Minasian learned from this disappointing class, as he signed some other players late into the signing period and changed his approach thereafter. High-octane thrower Walbert Urena and outfielder Anthony Scull, as well as the since-traded Edgar Quero, all have developed nicely after signing late into the period, and Minasian seemed to understand a need to cast a wide net in his future classes.
The biggest bonus given out in 2022 was attached to Nelson Rada, with fellow outfielder Randy De Jesus netting over one million dollars as well, much obliged to his power. He performed well in Single-A last year, while Rada is one of the Angels’ top prospects, and has a very high floor due to his speed and defense. He is relatively undersized, however, so any production at the plate projects similarly to Cedric Mullins at its absolute best. From their less-heralded signings, big-hitting backstop Dario Laverde and exceptional middle infielder Capri Ortiz have emerged to see top prospects lists (using Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs as a reference), and outfielder Kevyn Castillo, catcher Jonathan Linares, left-hander Sadiel Baro, and right-handers Marco Vega and Joel Hurtado have impressed at low levels. Whether any of them make it to the highest level will remain to be seen, but Perry definitely did a better job of adding talent here than the year prior
The Angels’ 2023 class of International Free Agents was the largest of any of Perry’s classes, save for this signing period. Felix Morrobel was the largest name to agree with the Angels, but he joins catcher Juan Flores, infielder Anyelo Marquez, outfielder Bryan Martinez and right-hander Ubaldo Soto on Angels’ top prospect lists, making this a fairly well-rounded class. While it is still far from making an impact, there is a chance for more potential behind this first layer as DSL infielder Oswaldo Patino has been productive, and righty Davidxon Lara threw 33 innings with an ERA of 0.55 there this year, so behind that first layer of prospects there is more yet to be excited about.
Most recently, the 2024 signing period saw the Angels add more up-the-middle talent to their farm, with infielder Joswa Lugo and Hayden Alvarez already showing up on prospect lists. Defensively limited hitter Jose Camacho and tall right-hander Dioris de la Rosa showed up in their first taste of professional ball, and there were relatively encouraging signs from a host of other pitchers and catchers. These players are far, far away from reaching the Majors, but going through our international signings year by year makes it easy to see the success we have enjoyed, specifically since Perry Minasian began running the show here. His talent identification has been solid, if not anything more. Where his highest-value signings may fall slightly short of expectations, he has consistently been able to find good value out of less-heralded players.
Photo Credit : @TaylorBlakeWard - X
Where Perry Finds Value
Historically, the Angels spend the highest bonuses on the toolsy, up the middle players who usually have standout defense. Guzman, Rada, Morrobel and Lugo have all fit this mold. While this has led to variant success, they all still have potential and could still yet become good players. Receiving lesser bonuses this year are de Paula, Santana, Paredes, and Cabrera, however they have the same stable floor of defensive promise. There are two buckets of high-velocity pitchers and high-pitchability pitchers who have found some success at the lower levels, but that group has yet to yield much in the high minors. The area where Minasian seems to thrive is finding low-value catching prospects, with Quero, Laverde and Flores all looking like part-time catchers at the least in the future after signing for low-dollar deals. Davalillo presents an interesting contrast to that past trend, and a new centerpiece of the Angels’ player development program. Additionally, he has a tendency to keep his focus on the market for longer than just the initial signing period rush, finding value with guys who were perhaps overlooked or not ready to sign at the onset of the period, meaning it can be expected that however much remaining money we do have will be spent eventually.
How Are We Looking in the 2025 Period?
With a little under $6.5 million to spend on International Amateurs, Perry’s biggest splash came in the form of the top available catcher, Gabriel Davalillo. Noted at a powerful, mature 17 years old, Davalillo needs to improve his work behind the plate to stick at catcher, as with every teenager, but if he does his power would be in the top third of the league. They were also able to nab advanced shortstop Yilver de Paula, a switch-hitter with plate approach and game instincts of a player older than his 17 years. All the other players each have their own combination of tools, makeup and personality that will determine where they end up and will get to try their hand at baseball in the meantime, even if each of their bonuses were less than $500,000 a piece. The reported total of money spent is somewhere between $5.4 and $5.9 million so far, leaving less than a million left for any later additions to this class.
The Angels differed in strategy this year by signing the top available catcher, instead of finding value lower down the totem pole. Davalillo joins the aforementioned Laverde and Flores as the top catching prospects in the system, and he brings a little bit more balance in profile than the other two despite some hit tool concerns. Minasian is taking a bigger swing to fill the catching pipeline, and he takes on some risk to do so. However, while Davalillo was the top catcher available, his bonus left more than 60% of the bonus pool available, which the Angels were wise to spread around. Since their more limited 2021 class, the organization has done a good job at diversifying their money into as many chances at a prospect as possible, and this year’s 18 is the highest number of International Amateurs to sign on the opening day since his tenure began. While we should expect it to be a long while before we truly reap the rewards of this class, there is plenty of talent to keep an eye on for the future.
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