Guardians have officially signed (C) prospect Reiner Herrera out of Merida, Venezuela.

Guardians sign 24 players to open 2023 International Signing Period

33 minutes ago

CLEVELAND, OH –

The Cleveland Guardians today signed 24 international amateur free agents for the opening of the 2023 signing period.

Among the club’s signings, SS Welbyn Francisca and OF Yerlin Luis headlined the group and rank among the top players in Latin America, respectively slotting in at No. 28 and No. 37 per _MLB.com_’s Top 50 International Prospect Ranking.

The club’s international signing class includes 15 players from Venezuela, eight from the Dominican Republic, and one from Panama, as announced by Senior Vice President of Scouting Paul Gillispie and Director of International Scouting Richard Conway.

“The opening of the international signing period is a special time of the year as we usher a new group of young, talented players into the organization. It’s an incredibly exciting day for the players, their families and trainers—a celebration of hard work, sacrifice and preparation, but also a new beginning to what we hope are long, healthy and successful careers,” said Gillispie, who leads the club’s amateur and international scouting efforts. “So many people across the organization, and especially our scouting staff, have worked collaboratively and diligently to identify and get to know the best young players across the globe, both on-and off-the-field. We’re so grateful for their contributions.”

From MLB.com on Francisca:

Francisca is not the biggest prospect in the class, but he has a huge upside. Scouts note his advanced hitting abilities -- he has a chance to be a plus hitter -- and advanced run times. The switch-hitting teen has also impressed evaluators with his plus instincts and great makeup. The twitchy athlete is at shortstop now, but might be better suited for second base because of skill set and average arm. There’s a chance he will develop some power because of his bat speed, but home runs are not expected to be a consistent part of his game. Speed is part of his game, and he could develop into a base-stealer in the future. Francisca trains out of the HYL Baseball Academy.

From MLB.com on Luis:

The athletic Luis has a chance to be a plus center fielder if he continues to develop at a normal pace. He also has a chance to be much more. The teenager from the Dominican Republic has a medium frame and well-proportioned build with room to grow. At the plate, he features loose hands to the ball with some quickness. In fact, he has advanced bat speed for his age. Specifically, there’s a slight upstroke to his swing and good bat-to-ball skills that results in hard contact. He has a mature approach and is learning how to master the strike zone. He is fundamentally sound with good mechanics in the batter’s box. The addition of strength could add to his overall upside. Luis trains with Julio Angel Pina.

Abreu, Javier RHS Ocumare del Tuy, Venezuela

Abreus, Jhorvic INF Guatire, Venezuela

Arosemena, Pablo C Panama City, Panama

Ayala, Yelserth INF Turmero, Venezuela

Bolivar, Mason OF Chirgua La Paredena, Venezuela

Cadiz, Sebastian C Charallave, Venezuela

Cruz, Estarlin LHS San Francisco de Macoris, DR

Dalmagro, Pedro C Guatire, Venezuela

Frances, Juan OF Villa de Cura, Venezuela

Francisca, Welbyn INF La Romana, Dominican Republic

Herrera, Reiner C Merida, Venezuela

Luis, Yerlin OF La Romana, Dominican Republic

Marcano, Jose INF Valencia, Venezuela

Martinez, Jonathan INF Orlando, Florida

Merejo, Luis INF Port St. Lucie, Florida

Mijares, Yaikel INF Petare, Venezuela

Osorio, Manuel LHS Guarenas, Venezuela

Peraza, Santiago RHS Barquisimeto, Venezuela

Perez, Erigaldi RHS La Romana, Dominican Republic

Perez, Joelvis RHS Bonao, Dominican Republic

Pirela, Jose OF Maracaibo, Venezuela

Ramos, Renil RHS Cagua, Venezuela

Silva, Heribert OF Santa Teresa, Venezuela

Taveras, Jonathan INF Moca, Dominican Republic

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Bonus pools

International bonus pools, the money teams can spend on players, are tied to revenue and market size, with small-market teams getting the biggest bonus pools and large market teams getting the smallest. There are bonus pool penalties for signing major-league free agents who have a qualifying offer attached, and teams can once again trade for an additional 60 percent of their original bonus pool this year. Bonus pool trades were put on hold the last few years, during the pandemic.

Here are the bonus pools for the 2023 international signing period, according to MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez:

$6,366,900: Athletics, Brewers, Mariners, Marlins, Rays, Reds, Tigers, Twins
$5,825,500: Diamondbacks, Guardians, Orioles, Padres, Pirates, Rockies. Royals
$5,284,000: Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, Mets, Nationals, White Sox, Yankees
$4,644,000: Angels, Phillies, Red Sox
$4,144,000: Dodgers, Rangers

Because they paid competitive balance tax in 2021, the Dodgers forfeited $1 million in bonus pool money to sign Freddie Freeman.

The Angels (Noah Syndergaard), Phillies (Nick Castellanos), Red Sox (Trevor Story), and Rangers (Corey Seager, Marcus Semien) each forfeited $500,000 to sign free agents with qualifying offers as non-CBT payers.

(Texas forfeited $500,000 each for Seager and Semien).

International players under 25 can sign minor-league contracts only. Teams can not entice players by offering to put them on the 40-man roster. When he first came over to MLB, Shohei Ohtani had to sign a minor-league deal with the Angels because he was only 23. Munetaka Murakami, the record-setting slugger of the Yakult Swallows in Japan, won't be posted until after 2025, when he will be 25 and no longer subject to the international bonus pools. He'll be able to sign a contract of any size at that time.

BASEBALL AMERICA ANNOUNCES THIS YEAR'S TOP 100 PROSPECTS'

Cleveland's representatives are well more than our fair share:

NUMBER 19 Daniel Espino
Guardians RHP
Notes:

Tools: Fastball: 80 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 70 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55
Skinny: Espino's fastball and slider are devastating pitches that overwhelmed hitters at every level and have allowed him to dominate when he's been on the mound. He has never pitched 100 innings in a season and missed most of last year with a knee injury, so staying healthy and showing he can pitch deep into starts will be key moving forward.

number 20 Gavin Williams 2022
Guardians RHP
Notes:

Tools: Fastball: 70 | Curveball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50
Skinny: The high-octane righthander flew up to Double-A in his pro debut last year while showing some of the best pure stuff in the minors. With an upper-90s fastball, two dominant breaking balls and improving control, Williams has every chance to be a dominant workhorse in the rotation.

68
Bo Naylor
Guardians C
Notes:

Tools: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Field: 55 | Arm: 55
Skinny: Naylor joined his brother Josh in Cleveland late in the 2022 season and will be ready for more MLB reps in 2023. He is coming off the rare 20-homer, 20-steal season for a catcher, compiled at Double-A and Triple-A, and checks a lot of boxes in terms of contact, discipline and impact.

72
George Valera
Guardians OF
Notes:

Tools: Hit: 50 | Power: 55 | Run: 50 | Field: 50 | Arm: 50
Skinny: Valera reached Triple-A as a 21-year-old and popped a career-high 24 home runs on the season. Lefthanded power and patience are his calling cards, and he should get a chance to showcase them in Cleveland later this season.

77
Brayan Rocchio
Guardians SS
Notes:

Tools: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 60 | Field: 60 | Arm: 50
Skinny: Rocchio is part of a huge glut of Guardians middle infield prospects and has perhaps the most polished skill set of the bunch. He makes a healthy amount of contact and has more impact potential as well. There's still some polish to apply on both sides of the ball, but he's got a chance to find his way to the big leagues in 2023.

85
Logan Allen
Guardians LHP
Notes:

Tools: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Cutter: 55 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 60
Skinny: Allen saw his command back up a little in 2022, but he continued to show signs that he's not far from being a durable back-of-the-rotation lefty who could join a very deep and talented Guardians rotation.

86
Tanner Bibee
Guardians RHP
Notes:

Tools: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55
Skinny: One of the breakout pitchers of the 2022 season, Bibee dominated at High-A and Double-A. The Guardians helped Bibee add 5-6 mph to his fastball without hindering his above-average control. The improved arm speed has also tightened his curveball and slider.

Espino and Williams are the 5th and 6th highest RHP on the list. I think it's pretty clear that IF Espino is healthy he rates near the very top; there is a lot of commentary now that with his health issues he may be a better bit as a closer.
But on other rankings he's listed as having the best fastball in the minors and one of the very best sliders. So his ceiling is sky high.

For comparison, the next team with 2 pitchers rated is Philadelphia with the top RHP [at No. 5 overall] and their second highest at No. 40

Baseball America to 30 prospect book is on the way, they rate each player on the 20-80 scale. Cleveland's collection is vastly stronger and deeper than the rest of the division

Grade 70 Cleveland 1 no one else in the division has anyone
Grade 65 Cleveland 1 no else in the division has anyone
Grade 60 Cleveland none; Chicago 1 KC none Detroit 1 Minnesota 3
Grade 55 Cleveland 7 Chicago 3 KC one Detroit 2 Minnesota 4
Grade 50 Cleveland 11 Chiago 12 KC 7 Detroit 7 Minnesota 7
Grade 45 Cleveland 10 Chicago 13 KC 18 Detroit 17 Minnesota 9
Grade 40 Cleveland has used all 30 spots by this point Chicago 1 KC 4 Detroit 3 Minnesota 8

Guardians Prospects: Analyzing the Various Strengths and Weaknesses of a Few of Our Top Prospects
By CLE_Brendan @Cle_Brendan52 on Jan 23, 2023, 3:36am EST +

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The Guardians' farm system was the highlight of the organization's unprecedented success last season. Frankly, it was the biggest factor that brought the team into contention. A whopping 17 rookies came up to play last year. Now, that number may not be topped this year, but that does not depict our farm system as being much weaker than it was beforehand. On the contrary, the organization still has one of the deepest farms in the league, and that is what I am going to be covering today. I will be going through a thorough analysis of the following Guardians prospects: Gabriel Arias, Bo Naylor, Daniel Espino, Angel Martinez, Brayan Rocchio, and George Valera. All of these players bring something to the table, and these analyses will bring those to light.

UTIL Gabriel Arias

To preface Gabriel's case as a top prospect in the farm, Arias is a player with a bulky frame. Standing at 6'1" and weighing in at 201 lbs, his body does well to help him as a hitter. This type of frame gives Arias raw power with his swing. In the minors, Gabriel's SLG% varied between the low-.300s and high-.400s, according to Baseball Reference. However, Gabriel is generally undisciplined as a hitter. His cumulative BB% in the minors shaped out to be 7% while his K rate was 25.7%. For reference, FanGraphs has both of those stats as below average, with the K rate being more egregious than the other. This is an area of interest where I could see Arias improving as time goes on. Under our hitting coach Chris Valaika, I do not doubt his ability to refine Gabriel's approach and swing to a more disciplined one. I believe that, if he can make the right adjustments, Arias can turn out to be a lot like Yandy Diaz, who has a similar frame and skill arsenal.

C Bo Naylor

Being a highly-touted prospect in the organization, Bo Naylor has emerged as the catcher of the future, at least for now. Naylor has a very strong arm that can gun down any runner. To add to that, Bo has some pop in his bat as well as a very disciplined eye, which all help him in getting consistent hits. It was not always like this, though. Since he was drafted in 2018, Bo never really stood out among other catchers in the system. That was until 2022 when Naylor had two outstanding stints in AA and AAA. Hitting a total .262 AVG as well as an .889 OPS, Naylor sure looks to be a good hitter. Not to mention the 21 homers he hit over his time with Akron and Columbus. Something to watch, though, is his swing. Even with a small sample size when he played up with us in the bigs, I have seen that Bo never really caught up to the fastball. It even looked like he was struggling with low-90s fastballs. Furthermore, his swing does not look like it is on plane with the path of the pitch. I think that if he can fix his bat path, then that will translate into his timing and produce a much more consistent swing. Nonetheless, I believe Naylor's floor is still an average hitter, which is ideal at the very least.

MIF Angel Martinez

Moving over to the middle infielders, Angel Martinez has been a name that has been gaining a bit of traction lately. There has been hype around him which suggests that he could be the best middle infield prospect we have right now. I do not necessarily think that is the case, but let me cover his upsides first. Some positives I see from him is that Angel has great plate discipline. His eye is very refined for his age and already knows his strike zone well. Another positive I see is his power as well. Posting a .451 SLG and a .207 ISO in AA, Angel's swing produces a lot of pop for his build. Now, onto the downsides of Martinez. To me, the biggest problem for him is his ability to get barrels. He may be able to send the ball far when he does barrel the ball, but he fails to do it consistently. A flaw I see in his swing leads Martinez to roll over a very large amount. If Angel is to take that next step forward into further contention for our future starting spot at SS, then Angel Martinez must refine his swing in order to barrel the ball more.

MIF Brayan Rocchio

Now, onto my favorite prospect of the bunch. To me, Brayan Rocchio has a lot of potential to end up like a Francisco Lindor-esque type of player. His swing is beautiful with his bat path being a constant upside. To add, his glove is phenomenal and his speed on the basepaths is a huge factor to his ability to take the extra base. I also believe that he has a bit of sneaky pop on his bat, even if the stats do not depict him to have any. Nevertheless, Rocchio is still a contact hitter for the most part. However, Brayan did not have such a good stint with AAA Columbus. Slashing a below-average .234/.298/.387 over 152 plate appearances, Rocchio does leave a bit to be desired. Although, I believe he can bounce back with more ABs. Looking into the future, I see Brayan having a floor of an average-above average hitter with exceptional speed with, as aforementioned, a ceiling of a Francisco Lindor type of player.

RF/DH George Valera

For our last position-playing prospect, and probably the most popular of the bunch, we are covering George Valera. George, being a pure power hitter, seems like he might be the right fielder or DH of the future. With a sort of question mark surrounding the position, it is clear that Valera will have a stake in taking that spot, even if one of his major downsides is his glove. Although, the glove is not the main attraction here. That would be his immense power. Valera might have the most raw power in the whole organization right now, besides guys like Josh Bell or maybe Jhonkensy Noel. His swing is a very free, Barry Bonds-like cut (though nobody can get to that level of production that Bonds had with that swing). Valera just lets loose on the ball and produces a lot of hard hits. During his time in AAA, George posted a very impressive .227 ISO in 179 plate appearances (In AA it was .206 in 387 PAs). The swing does open him up to be more prone to strikeouts, though. In 2022, his K% was a very high 25.6%. That should be expected for a power hitter like him, though. However, it would be great to see him fix that problem. From what I see of Valera, his floor is low, but his ceiling is that of superstar status.

RHP Daniel Espino

The last prospect before we wrap things up here, we have a very highly-touted Daniel Espino. Drafted in 2019, Espino quickly rose the ranks to become the 4th best RHP prospect (according to MLB Pipeline). Espino has what I see as very well-developed mechanics. In fact, Daniel's mechanics might be some of the best I have seen. It is also obvious that his fastball has the potential to be one of the deadliest in the league, topping out at a very impressive 101 MPH with a lot of run to boot. The velo and movement of his fastball are not the only qualities that he has, though. Espino's slider is very deceptive, with really good lateral breaking action. The same could be said with his curveball and changeup, both having respectable drop. Adding onto that, Espino's efficiency as a pitcher cannot be disregarded either. In 10 GS in high-A Lake County, Daniel put up a .94 WHIP as well as a 3.08 FIP (This obviously is a small sample size, since Espino has not had enough time in the minors yet). Those numbers are very impressive, even considering the limited time he had in High-A ball. Now, it is time to address the elephant in the room. As of now, the huge concern surrounding Espino here is his injury problems he suffered over the course of last season. Since it has now been made known, that knee injury was not the main thing keeping him out for the rest of the season. What ended up doing that is residual soreness in Daniel's shoulder. This is a very big concern, as early shoulder problems can derail an already promising career. As it has been implied with the organization's choice to sit him out for the year, they did not want to take any chances on letting this type of promise go to waste. All that one can hope for now is that Espino comes back better than ever.

Wrap-Up/Final Statements

Each of these players I have covered has their own upsides and downsides. What makes this list special, though, is that this set of players (along with a lot of our other prospects) all have star potential. Our farm system is so deep that we really can build a team solely off of that and still be a serious contender. To sum things up, this organization should be proud to have all these young players who are still vying for a spot on one of the youngest teams in baseball.

FanPosts are reader-generated, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Covering the Corner o

Arias can turn out to be a lot like Yandy Diaz, who has a similar frame and skill arsenal.

Seems unlikely. Yandy always a lot, didn't suddenly get patient in the majors. Yandy had no power in the minors and developed some as he matured. Yandy was not and is not a slick fielding middle infielder, he's a competent corner infielder.

Neglected to mention Valera's high walk total. He hasn't and likely won't hit 300 but he could have a mid 800s OPS with his ability to draw walks and hit for power. Will Brennan's raw numbers look better but Valera remains high on all prospect lists.

BA on Valera

Born: Nov 13, 2000
Bats: L Throws: L
Ht.: 5'10" Wt.: 160
Drafted/Signed: Dominican Republic, 2017.
Signed By: Jhonathan Leyba/Domingo Toribio.
Minors: .250/.353/.463 | 24 HR | 2 SB | 484 AB
View Player Card

Track Record: The Guardians made a splash on the international market in 2017, taking advantage of rule changes in the Collective Bargaining Agreement and a revamped international scouting department. They signed Valera, the No. 5 prospect in his signing class, to a $1.3 million deal. He was born in New York and lived there until his family moved to the Dominican Republic when he was 13. Valera was added to the 40-man roster after the 2021 season. He spent most of 2022 at Double-A Akron before an August promotion to Triple-A Columbus, where he was one of the league's youngest everyday players.

Scouting Report: Valera has long stood out for his advanced setup at the plate, one that drew comparisons to Juan Soto as an amateur. He has quick hands and keeps the bat in the zone for a long time, traits that enable him to make a lot of hard contact. Despite that loose, easy swing, there is swing-and-miss to Valera's game, and he has struck out in about a quarter of his plate appearances in full-season ball. His patience and feel for the zone mean that he also consistently works walks. He has above-average raw power and gets to it in games often. His 24 home runs ranked third among the organization's minor leaguers. Valera profiles as a corner outfielder with average speed and arm strength. He has mostly played right field as a professional.

The Future: Cleveland has been on the hunt for power bats for several years, and Valera could soon fill such a role in the middle of the order. He profiles as a traditional power-hitting corner outfielder. He'll return to Columbus to begin 2023 and could break through to the big leagues as a 22-year-old later in the season.

Scouting Grades: Hitting: 50. Power: 55. Speed: 50. Fielding: 50. Arm: 50 [that is, he's solid across the board]

on Martinez

Track Record: Martinez made the biggest jump of any Guardians' position prospect in 2021 and then built on that progress in 2022, reaching Double-A Akron as a 20-year-old and then playing every day as one of the youngest players in the Arizona Fall League. Martinez's rise has been meteoric for a player whose professional resume coming into 2021 was limited to the Dominican Summer League and instructional league. His experience around baseball likely eased his transition. His father is former big league catcher Sandy Martinez, now the Nationals' DSL manager, and his older brother is Sandy Martinez Jr., who also played professionally.

Scouting Report: Martinez isn't the most tooled-up of Cleveland's middle infielders, but his baseball IQ and maturity make all his tools play up. The switch-hitter has a simple swing from both sides and can drive the ball to all fields with solid power potential, though it plays as doubles pop now. He's a disciplined hitter and makes a lot of contact. He prides himself in his ability to make quick adjustments at the plate. After struggling against lefthanders in 2021, he made significant strides with his righthanded swing in 2022, evening his splits. Martinez is an average runner but still covers a lot of ground thanks to his instincts, and he makes sound decisions defensively. He also has worked hard to improve his arm strength, which now grades out as plus. He can play anywhere on the infield and primarily played shortstop at High-A Lake County before playing mostly second base at Akron in deference to Jose Tena.

The Future: Martinez has consistently been one of the youngest players at his level, and the way Cleveland has challenged him is indicative of how advanced he is. He'll return to Akron to start 2023 and should find himself Cleveland's infield mix in the next couple years.

Scouting Grades: Hitting: 50. Power: 50. Speed: 50. Fielding: 55. Arm: 60 [that's nice defensive ratings]

and Rocchio

Track Record: When the Guardians made a big splash on the 2017 international market with the heralded signings of Aaron Bracho and George Valera, their move to ink Rocchio flew more under the radar. The Venezuela native has since made his own mark. Rocchio has been on an accelerated track throughout his career. After the 2021 season, he was added to the 40-man roster, and in 2022 he reached Triple-A Columbus as a 21-year-old.

Scouting Report: Rocchio doesn't stand out physically but earned plaudits for his high baseball IQ and game awareness. A switch-hitter, he has a smooth, consistent swing from both sides of the plate and excellent pitch recognition. He's an aggressive hitter and consistently barrels up the ball. Following the pandemic layoff in 2020--a time when Rocchio was forced to focus more on strength training because he was stuck in Venezuela with few on-field options--he started showing above-average power potential. In both of the seasons that followed, he has had 46 extra-base hits. Rocchio has answered any questions about his ability to stick at shortstop. He's an above-average runner, and his hands and arm are good enough for [shortstop] the position, especially because his instincts and baseball IQ help his tools play up. He's also seen time at second base and third base in the last two years to give him more versatility, which could come into play as he looks to break into a crowded Cleveland infield.

The Future: The Guardians have no shortage of middle infield prospects, and the strong play in 2022 of their major league double-play combination of Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez only further adds to the logjam. Rosario has one year remaining before he reaches free agency, so Rocchio is in line to open 2023 back in Columbus and likely make his MLB debut later in the season.

Scouting Grades: Hitting: 50. Power: 50. Speed: 60. Fielding: 60. Arm: 50

May have posted this before?

BA ranks the minor league systems of the 30 teams
4. Cleveland Guardians where Cleveland ranked in the previous 5 years from 2021 back to 2017: 12 11 19 15 21
Led by two of the top pitching prospects in baseball in Daniel Espino and Gavin Williams, the Guardians boast
a deep and talented group of close-to-the-majors prospects. With Bo Naylor, Will Brennan, Tyler Freeman and
Gabriel Arias already seeing time in the majors, the youngest team in baseball is set to get younger.

As for individual players, these 4 rated among the top 10 at their positions:

Corner OF: Valera is Number 2
LH Pitcher: Logan Allen somewhat surprisingly is No. 5
RH Pitchers: Espino is 6 and Gavin Williams 7

BA ranks top 100 first year pros for fantasy leagues; our guys are:

no. 100 Welbyn Francisca has a smaller, compact frame but elite hand-eye coordination and excellent contact skills from both sides of the plate. Whether he stays at shortstop or second base is to be determined, but he's one of the msot advanced hitters in this year's international class. 16 year old Prospect grade 50

no 58 OF Joe Lampe A speedster with plus-plus running ability, Lampe found power during his pre-draft spring, hitting .340/.394/.590 with 12 homers and 17 steals. Potential power and speed target. His prospect rating a marginal 40

no 40 RHP Justin Campbell Well-rounded and polished righthander with a loose arm, hoppy fastball, solid curveball and potential plus changeup; hard to find an obvious weakness. Grade 50

no 15 Chad DeLauter While the memories of a few bad at-bats have clouded the public discourse, DeLauter was the best player on the Cape over the summer of 2021. He combines a loud combination of hitting ability, power and speed. Grade 55

George Valera
Recovering from hand surgery
OFCleveland Guardians AAA
Hand
January 26, 2023
Valera recently underwent surgery for a broken hamate bone in his right hand, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
ANALYSIS
The expectation is that Valera will still be in recovery mode when Guardians camp gets underway in Arizona next month. This type of surgery usually requires around two full months of rest and rehab. One of the top position-player prospects in Cleveland's system, Valera slashed .250/.353/.463 with 24 home runs and 82 RBI in 132 games last season between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. If his health cooperates, he could make his MLB debut at some point in 2023.

That is the 2nd time he has had that surgery in 3 years.