by The International Signing Period opened on Tuesday (July 2) for all 30 MLB clubs and the Cleveland Indians have signed one of the top International prospects in a class of 24 international signees.
Multiple sources confirmed that the Indians have inked SS Jose Pastrano out of Venezuela for a signing bonus of $1,500,000. It should be confirmed by the Indians in the coming days. Pastrano is slotted as the 25th best International prospect by MLB.com.
According to MLB Pipeline, “Pastrano is best known as an agile middle infielder with a chance to be a good hitter. He already has quick feet, soft hands and solid defensive actions. Add a strong arm that could become above average and the teen has a chance to be a plus defender. At the plate, he is a line-drive hitter who shows a good feel for the strike zone. He drives the ball to the opposite field particularly well and has enough bat speed to compete against average and slightly above-average fastballs. He’s a good runner now and is expected to be a plus runner in the future.”
It was also confirmed that the Indians have reached a deal with OF Luis Durango Jr. from Panama. Durango is signing for an estimated $550,000. He is the son of former Major Leaguer Luis Durango. Jose Devers, a shortstop from Panama, signed for $450,000. Devers is the cousin of current Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers.
The Indians also announced the following signings on Tuesday evening.
- Juan Benjamin, SS, Dominican Republic
- Maick Collado, SS, Dominican Republic
- Angel Contreras, SS, Colombia
- Jose Devers, SS, Dominican Republic
- Victor Garcia, RHP, Dominican Republic
- Jhoan Gomez, SS, Venezuela
- Esteban Gonzalez, OF, Venezuela
- Danny Medina, RHP, Dominican Republic
- Angel Mendoza, OF, Venezuela
- Kenny Pinto, LHP, Panama
- Adrian Rodriguez, RHP, Dominican Republic
- Juan Rodriguez, CF, Venezuela
- Erickson Sarita, CF, Dominican Republic
- Adalberto Vargas, C, Dominican Republic
Baseball America’s Ben Badler also reported the following signings for the Indians but have not been confirmed by the club.
- Junior Caminero, SS, Dominican Republic
- Maikol Flores, OF, Venezuela
- Yorman Gomez, RHP, Venezuela
- Erickson Martinez, OF, Dominican Republic
- Samuel Parra, OF, Venezuela
- Kevin Rivas, SS, Venezuela
- Juan Rodriguez, OF, Venezuela
- Simon Rodriguez, OF, Venezuela
- Lexer Saduy, OF, Venezuela
For the International Signing Period, the Cleveland Indians have the maximum amount of pool money to use, $6,481,200. With the signings of Pastrano, Durango Jr., and Devers, the Indians have spent about 2.4 million dollars of the pool.
