Orioles secure 22 players on first day of international signings (updated)

The Orioles made another big splash in the international signing pool by securing 22 agreements on the first day.

The class includes 11 players from the Dominican Republic, six from Venezuela, four from Cuba and one from St. Thomas. Eight are pitchers, five are infielders, five are catchers and four are outfielders.

Highlighting the class are shortstop José Luis Peña, outfielder Johanse Gómez, shortstop Meykel Baro, shortstop Ronald Terrero, catcher Yeison Acosta, outfielder Lisandro Sanchez, left-hander Kelvin Zapata and catcher Jose Flores.

"I am very ecstatic to welcome these remarkable individuals and their families to Birdland,” Koby Perez, Orioles vice president of international scouting and operations, said in a statement. “We believe that we were able to introduce a new wave of exciting, young players this signing period. These efforts continue to be made possible only through the hard work and commitment of our staff, as well as the continued support of our international operations from Mike Elias and the partnership group.”

The Orioles had $6,908,600 in international bonus money.

Per reports and sources, Peña signed for $1 million, Gómez for $750,000, Baro for $500,000 and Acosta for $375,000.

The Orioles provided scouting reports on the following players:

“Peña, 16, was born in Bani, Dominican Republic. He is ranked as the No. 42 international prospect by Baseball America and No. 47 by MLB Pipeline. He has the chance to be a solid, everyday type of player with a plus hit and power combo, who projects to stay at shortstop long term. Peña possesses a large frame and athletic build, showing great body projection in the future. He has plus-plus bat speed and a short swing that stays through the zone, resulting in baseballs jumping off the bat. He has the hands and feet of a good defender with a plus arm.”

“Gómez, 17, an outfielder from St. Thomas, is an excellent athlete with a lot of tools. He has the ability to impact the game with his power and speed, projecting as a power hitter and a plus runner. Offensively, he drives the ball to all fields, generates loft, and shows raw power. He profiles as a corner outfielder with great range and a plus arm.”

“Baro, 16, a native of Havana, Cuba, is an athletic shortstop with speed and power. An excellent athlete, he has the type of speed that makes the defense rush. Baro carries plus bat speed and makes a lot of hard contact, with strength and leverage that can lead to plus power in the future. An alert defender with a quick first step, he displays loose defensive actions and has good lateral mobility. He projects as a five-tool player.”

“Terrero, 17, is a shortstop out of Cuba whose advanced approach at the plate for his age stands out. He has a quick bat with an inside out swing, displays strong bat-to-ball skills, and rarely swings and misses. His skill set has the potential for gap power.”

“Acosta, 17, is a switch-hitting catcher out of Gramma, Cuba who projects to be a plus defender behind the plate. He looks comfortable defensively, sits low with good catching skills, and throws the ball well. Offensively, he has the same swing from both sides of the plate, going direct to the ball, and showing a good approach.”

“Sanchez, 17, is from Azúa, Dominican Republic, and projects to be a five-tool player, with his speed and power tools already being plus. He has a quick bat that the baseball jumps off. Defensively, he can play anywhere in the outfield and has a strong arm with good carry through the bag.”

“Zapata, 16, is a left-handed pitcher from Monte Plata, Dominican Republic. At a young age, he already has all the tools to be a starter, including an athletic build, loose arm action, and a good delivery. His fastball can reach 94 mph and tails with sink action. His changeup is his second-best pitch, and his consistent arm action allows him to keep hitters off balance. Zapata also showed potential with his slider. He is a competitor on the mound.”

“Flores, 17, a catcher from Guatire, Venezuela, has an athletic build and durable body. He projects to hit for average with good defensive skills. He has a sure hand, receives easily, and looks comfortable behind the plate. Flores has a quick transfer and an accurate arm that will be a plus. Offensively, he swings through the ball with decent bat speed and has a line drive type of power. He shows a good approach at the plate and good plate coverage.”

Here is the complete list of 22 players:

C Yeison Acosta, Cuba
SS Meykel Baro, Cuba
C Ricardo Chirinos, Venezuela
OF Fabian Cordero, Venezuela
RHP Alexander Diaz, Dominican Republic
SS Jorge Drullard, Dominican Republic
C Jose Flores, Venezuela
OF Johanse Gómez, St. Thomas
3B Frandy Guillen, Dominican Republic
OF Rayner Herrera, Dominican Republic
RHP Enmanuel Peña, Dominican Republic
SS José Luis Peña, Dominican Republic
C Victor Saez, Venezuela
OF Lisandro Sanchez, Dominican Republic
RHP Laurens Sosa, Dominican Republic
RHP Samuel Teran, Venezuela
SS Ronald Terrero, Cuba
LHP Darlin Valencio, Dominican Republic
RHP Benjamin Vasquez, Dominican Republic
C Manuel Vasquez, Venezuela
LHP Yunior Villavicencio, Cuba
LHP Kelvin Zapata, Dominican Republic

Update: The Orioles have handed out seven-figure bonuses to international prospects over the last five years - José Luis Peña $1 million in 2025, Emilio Sanchez $1.3 million in 2024, Luis Almeyda $2.3 million in 2023, Braylin Tavera $1.7 million in 2022, Samuel Basallo $1.3 million and Maikol Hernández $1.2 million in 2021.

Terrero signed for $600,000.

Pérez and José Luis Peña (via interpreter Brandon Quinones) just finished their video calls with the media.

Pérez on signing 22 players:
“We’re extremely excited about this class. We spread out our dollars with the majority of players being from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela. As you guys know, this process to get to today takes three years before today’s here. It takes a lot of hard work from our scouts and everyone involved to get these deals done, and we feel that our talent within those 22 players is going to be really good and should show its way up our line hopefully in the near future.”

Pérez on Peña:
“One of the positive things about José Luis Peña is his August birthday. He’s very, very young for the class. Had he been born a few days later, he would be signing the following year and not this year, so I’m super excited about having José Luis join our player development group as a 16 year old for most of this year. 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 for them.

“As far as José’s tools, he’s a plus-runner, we love his arm strength from shortstop. We think he can maintain at shortstop. And his power we think has a chance to be average power in the future.”

Pérez on using leftover bonus pool money:
“We always like having some extra after this date. There’s late bloomers, there’s a lot of situations that that money can help our organization with that we like having some of it laying around.”

Pérez on signing four Cuban players:
“This international program takes a while to build up, so these Cuban players, we see them in 13U tournaments, 14U tournaments throughout the world when they play in Asia, South America. So now, being that we’ve been here over five years, we’ve got track records where we can make decisions on these players. In Cuba, they play a lot of baseball, so 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 knowing them from the international tournaments.”

Pérez on Baro:
“He’s one of the kids that we’re very excited about. We’ve been working on him since watching him in international play. We had such a good track record with him that we were able to pounce on the situation. We feel that it’s a bat shortstop with defensive tools, athletic ability. He’s got all the ingredients and we think that with our system that we have in place as far as player development, he can be a special type player.”

Peña on signing with Orioles:
“I think they really wanted to sign me because of my different qualities and all the potential that I have. I think they’re a really good organization. I think we have a lot of really go 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 be on you and work with you to get past those mistakes and help you improve each and every day.”

Peña on benefits and challenges of being so young:
“It feels really good, and I think being so young, it gives me time to display my potential and really grow into that.”

Peña on which major league players he patterns himself after:
“I watch Robinson Cano a lot and how easily he does everything. I know that I can reach that point one day if I put that objective and work really hard to get to that point.”

Note: The Orioles traded catcher Blake Hunt to the Mariners for cash considerations after designating him for assignment.

Hunt returns to Seattle after the Orioles acquired him in May for reliever Mike Baumann and catcher Michael Pérez.