White Sox load up on young talent during international signing period
Take a look at the White Sox roster and it's apparent the international signing period is important.
Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada were all acquired out of Latin America, as were top prospects Oscar Colas, Lenyn Sosa, Bryan Ramos and Norge Vera.
On Monday, the Sox announced their latest international class: seven players from the Dominican Republic.
The White Sox agreed to terms with right-handed pitchers Luis Reyes ($700,000 signing bonus) and Denny Lima ($10,000), outfielders Abraham Nunez Jr. ($700,000) and Albert Alberto ($50,000) and infielders D'Angelo Tejada ($350,000), Rafael Alvarez ($350,000) and Juan Uribe Jr. ($200,000).
At age 18, Lima is the oldest player in the group.
"Obviously, when you get an opportunity to sign an experienced guy that we feel has the chance to be an impact player in the major leagues, we're going to take it," said Marco Paddy, the Sox's director of international operations. "Even though we didn't get the older guy right now that's close to the big leagues, we have to concentrate on the younger kids that have a chance to advance and get better and progress in our system."
Reyes, 17, appears to be the most advanced player in the White Sox's haul.
Rated as the No. 4 international pitching prospect and No. 41 overall in the international class, Reyes pitched for the Miami Miracles travel team in several USA tournaments and Perfect Game events from 2020-21.
"He's a power arm that has three pitches," Paddy said. "He's got a power fastball, a slider and a changeup. He's got a clean arm, good mechanics and good size (6-foot-2, 185 pounds). He's a kid that had a lot of experience with Perfect Game in the States, has a lot of competition behind him.
"I've seen him pitch and being able to adjust. Even though he was a younger kid, he was able to adjust to older competition extremely well. We're pleased with the fact we were able to sign this guy (Monday)."
The 16-year-old Uribe Jr. is the son of former White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe. He's a 5-foot-10, 170-pound middle infielder.
"The biggest thing with Juan Uribe Jr. is he's got a very short swing," Paddy said. "He can swing the bat. There's no question about his hitting ability. He inherited that from his dad. He's got a very good swing. Where he ends up in the future, it all depends on how many adjustments he can make in the middle of the infield, but whether he's at second (base) or whether he's at short or whether he's at third, at the end of the day what's going to play with this kid is the bat."
Nunez, 16, is a 6-foot-2, 175-pound outfielder who bats left-handed and is the son of former major leaguer Abraham Nunez.
"He can play all three outfield positions," Paddy said. "He'll probably end up in a corner just because he's such a tall kid and if you look at his dad, his dad was a big man, too. He's got speed, he's got power. But the one unique thing about Abraham is he has a feel for the strike zone.
"He's a very exciting kid. Right now he's 175 pounds but two, three years down the road he's going to be 6-4 and probably about 220-230 pounds and be a speed and power combination guy."