The start of the international signing period for 2024 has begun. Many players have already agreed to sign with teams, but today is officially the day they can make those contacts official.
The Kansas City Royals have focused on improving their international scouting department, and the move has seemed to pay off as the Royals have signing agreements in place with four of the top 100 international signees, according to Baseball America. The class looks like this:
- Yandel Ricardo, SS, Cuba (#9)
- Jhonayker Ugarte, SS, Venezuela (#31)
- Darison Garcia, SS, Dominican Republic (#51)
- Jose Cerice, 3B, Cuba (#61)
- Anthony Longo, C, Venezuela
- Anderson Garcia, SS, Dominican Republic
- Juan Rivera, RHP, Dominican Republic
- Robinson Chacon, OF, Venezuela
The Royals were 1 of 6 teams with the most bonus pool money at $7,114,800, and they used that money to secure what seems to be one of the stronger international classes in Royals history.
Yandel Ricardo, SS, Cuba
The class is headlined by Cuban shortstop Yandel Ricardo. He’s the top prospect out of Cuba, and according to Baseball America, he blends “good size, athleticism, and hitting ability for both sides of the plate.” According to Joe Doyle of Future Stars Series, Ricardo is ranked the second-best international prospect among MLB scouting directors.
He’s impressed scouts with his physical upside, and many hope he can tap into more power as he continues to fill out. He’s looked good defensively, according to scouts, but MLB Pipeline thinks he could move to third base or second base as he continues to grow.
The Rest of the Class
The rest of the class is quite intriguing for the Royals. The one that stuck out the most was Darison Garcia, a shortstop out of the Dominican Republic. According to Baseball America, he is “instinctive” with a high baseball IQ and is already a steady offensive performer. Those are the kinds of things you like to read as you start analyzing these younger international signings. The baseball skills over raw tools give the player a better floor than ceiling. Some of what you got from guys like Ramon Ramirez and Erick Torres in the system already.
Third baseman Jose Cerice is also very intriguing. The Royals are rumored to have signed him for around $700,000. He was the third baseman for the Cuba U-18 National team, and Baseball America reported that he slashed .407/.510/.568 in 98 plate appearances. He was fourth in the league in OPS. He’s another hit-over-power type player. Seems to have the defensive ability to stick at third base.
Jhonayker Ugarte seems to have the highest ceiling out of the players not named Yandel Ricardo. It’s been reported that the Venezuelan shortstop has grown quite a bit and increased his bat speed and in-game power.
This seems to be one of the better international classes the Royals have signed in a while. Usually, we see quite a few more names, but it seems they focused on quantity over quality this time. Time will only tell how good this class will be. It will be quite a bit before we understand the impact these players will have (if any). Regardless, this is a sign of the focus the Royals have had on improving their international department and ability to go out and get high-quality international signings.