When the Cincinnati Reds made major international signings throughout the past decade, they’ve primarily focused on Cuban talent.
The Reds stunned the industry when they signed Aroldis Chapman in 2010. They signed Raisel Iglesias in 2014. When they were willing to take a two-year penalty for vastly spending more than their bonus pool in the 2016-17 class, they paid huge bonuses to sign Jose Garcia, Vladimir Gutierrez and Alfredo Rodriguez.
Following the two-year penalty – and a new hard cap on teams' international signing bonus pools – the Reds have made a bigger commitment to sign top talent in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
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Their two biggest international signings Friday, on the first day players could be officially signed in the 2020-21 class, were Dominican outfielders Malvin Valdez ($1.9 million) and Ariel Almonte ($1.85 million). It's believed to be the club's largest bonuses spent on non-Cuban international signees in more than a decade.
“We had a really good, balanced class this year,” said Trey Hendricks, the Reds’ international scouting director. “My staff did a tremendous job with not only the big-money guys in the Dominican, but we’ve got some under-the-radar, mid-range dollar-wise that we’re really excited about.”
The Reds announced they signed 13 international free agents Friday, with eight from Venezuela and five from the Dominican Republic. The Reds are one of the teams with the largest bonus pool ($6.431 million) because they’re a lower-revenue team that picked in the Competitive Balance B round of the 2020 MLB Draft.
There are obvious risks when trying to project which would-be high school sophomores will make it to the Major Leagues, but it's a huge talent pipeline for teams. Arguably the Reds' top hitter (Eugenio Suárez), pitcher (Luis Castillo) and prospect (Garcia) were international signees at the start of their careers.
The Reds will hold a strength and skills camp at their complex in the D.R. next week for players that signed Friday and players who signed last year but were unable to play because of the pandemic. Michel Triana, their top international signee in the 2019-20 class, was supposed to play in the Panamanian Winter League before it was canceled last week, so he will participate in the complex’s camp.
More:Why oddsmakers have the Cincinnati Reds as leaders to win National League Central
“The goal is always to get the best player and worry about position later, especially when you’re talking about 16- and 17-year-olds,” said Hendricks, who joined the Reds in Nov. 2018. “A lot of these guys are ‘shortstops’ but there are only 30 shortstops at the Major League level. A lot of them will move to different positions.”
Here’s a breakdown of their top bonus getters Friday:
• CF Malvin Valdez, 17, Dominican Republic – He received a $1.9 million signing bonus, according to Baseball America. He’s a great athlete and has a few loud tools that gives the Reds confidence he’ll be able to play center field. He’s 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, was clocked at 6.5 seconds in the 60-yard dash, which is borderline elite speed, and Hendricks says he has a “plus-plus” arm.
“He really impacts the baseball at the plate,” Hendricks said. “I think the biggest thing for him is just reps and learning to stay within himself. He’s got tremendous upside and we’re really excited to add him.”
• OF Ariel Almonte, 17, Dominican Republic – He was ranked No. 26 by MLB.com in the 2020-21 class and signed for a $1.85 million bonus. He’s rated highly because he’s an advanced hitter with power potential. He projects as a corner outfielder, growing two or three inches in the last year to 6-foot-4, 190 pounds.
“Really handles left-handed pitchers well,” Hendricks said. “Very advanced approach. Plate discipline, he’s the type that will take his walk. He doesn’t go up there and expand the zone like you see a lot of young Latin hitters do just because they’re trying to show everything that they can do in a showcase setting.
“He’s up to 6-4. Long levers. He shows power to all fields, especially to left-center. He’s a left-handed hitter. Being able to get a guy that shows that ability to backspin the ball the other way at such a young age is really exciting.”
• 3B Luis Reyes, 17, Venezuela – He signed for a $680,000 bonus, according to MLB.com. Baseball America called him an “offensive-minded” third baseman with a strong, thick build.
“He spent a lot of time in the D.R. the last year or two,” Hendricks said. “He’s one of those ones that we’ve been watching for years and he always performed in games. Consistent hard contact. In the past, he was actually behind the plate, but we believe in the bat so much that we moved him to third to take some pressure off the defense just because catching is such a demanding position. We want to see how the bat plays.”
• OF Brayan Rijo, 17, Dominican Republic – He received a $750,000 bonus, according to Baseball America. The publication wrote the 6-foot, 160-pounder has a chance to stick in center and he shows more power than his frame suggests.
“Very projectable,” Hendricks said. “High waist, long legs. Beautiful swing from the right side. Consistently barrels the ball up.”
The international signing period was always July 2, but MLB pushed it back to January during the pandemic.
“It didn’t really affect this class,” Hendricks said. “The biggest thing was is that we didn’t get the days that we normally would have with these players in our complex. MLB allows a certain number of days depending on when the player is eligible to sign. We just lost out on those days, but I’m really proud of all the kids and how hard they worked during the pandemic. They all look really good. They’re in shape. They are ready to go.”
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