It always amazes me whenever these reports start to come out about teams across MLB being linked to teenagers. Like yeah, these scouts are paid for a reason, to find the next big star, but can you really know how good these guys will be by looking at them play when they're 14 or 15 years-old? I mean, that's a part of the game, right, there are some hits and lots of misses, but according to Joe Doyle, the Cubs are favorites to sign the number one prospect in the 2024 international free agent class.
Yeah, that's right. Not next year's class, we're talking about the 2024 class, which means the highlight video below is about 15-year-old Fernando Cruz from the Dominican Republic.
Here's what scouts are saying about Cruz according to Doyle, who wrote about the future prospect at Prospects Live.
“Yeah, he’s probably the complete package in this class,” one AL international scouting director said. “If you’re doing a comparison, it’s a bit like Roderick Arias. Just balanced and complete. Nothing weak about his game. He does it all. And it’s polished already.”
An NL international scouting director agreed.
“If there was a draft and we had the No. 1 pick, he’d be the guy, no doubt,” he said. “He’s the consensus best player. And with the history of Dominican players and shooting up boards and the competition he’s seen, he’s the guy.”
According to Doyle, scouts have been raving about Cruz since as early as 2020. Doyle describes Cruz as, "lean, wiry, 'true' shortstop with significant athleticism and fluid actions in everything he does."
The last time the Cubs had this much hype around a top international free agent prospect was Cristian Hernandez, who was getting compared to Manny Machado a couple years ago before the Cubs got him. But even when he signed as a 17-year-old, the shortstop was ranked sixth in MLB Pipeline's international free agent rankings. The last time the Cubs signed the number one ranked player in a class was Eloy Jimenez back in 2013.
One last thing, Fernando Cruz, cool name. Looking forward to his rookie of the year season in 2030, when he takes over for Dansby Swanson at shortstop.
As for the 2023 international free agent class, the Cubs are expected to sign two of the top-30 prospects.
According to reports, Dominican shortstop Derniche Valdez and Venezuelan shortstop Ludwig Espinoza will be signing with the Cubs in January.
Here are their rankings in this signing period's class.
Valdez: Fangraphs - 13th, Baseball America - 11th, MLB Pipeline - 6th
Espinoza: Fangraphs - 28th, Baseball America - 20th, MLB Pipeline - 14th
The Cubs are also reportedly going to sign Dominican shortstop Angel Cepada, who is ranked 19th by MLB Pipeline.
As for the 2023 IFA signing period, the Cubs are only allowed to spend $5,284,000. I say only because that's less money they are able to use in signing bonuses compared to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers. Signings will be officially announced beginning on Jan. 15, for the 2023 class.
So, hopefully one of these guys work out and one day we'll be rooting for them at Wrigley Field.
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