Jamey is a lifelong Rangers fan who has been blogging for nearly 20 years at newbergreport.com and traces his fandom back to the days of Bump Wills, Bert Blyleven, and the powder blues.
As the 2018-19 international signing period opened up on Monday, Texas reportedly devoted $2 million of its MLB-allotted bonus pool to 16-year-old catcher Jose Rodriguez, a left-handed hitter from Venezuela.
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The Rangers, according to Baseball America, have also signed righthanders Arthur Sabino (Brazil), Hamilton Sarabia (Colombia), and Williams Hernandez (Venezuela); catcher Abel Noguera (Venezuela); shortstops Luisangel Acuna, Luis Zambrano, and Joiquer Guacare (Venezuela) and Junior Paniagua and Frankely Hurtado (Dominican Republic); and outfielders Leandro Gonzalez and Johan Lopez (Venezuela).
While Acuna — the younger brother of Braves rookie outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. — has the greatest name recognition, Rodriguez is believed to have the highest upside of the dozen J2 prospects who have been reported this week as Texas pickups. His bat is said to be further along than his defense, but the club believes he has the athleticism and aptitude to stay behind the plate and add to an increasingly deep crop of catchers in the system. The $2 million bonus Rodriguez is said to have received is twice what the Rangers paid Venezuelan shortstop Keyber Rodriguez (unrelated) to sign last July.
Under the CBA guidelines, the Rangers have $4,983,500 to spend internationally between July 2 and next June 15, though teams are permitted to acquire pool money from other clubs to add up to another 75 percent, meaning the Rangers could increase their bonus pool to as much as $8,721,125. During last year’s J2 period, Texas made trades with the White Sox, Orioles, Reds, and Royals to acquire international bonus pool money, initially thought to be part of an effort to maximize what the club could offer Shohei Ohtani but later used to help sign Cuban outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez for $2.8 million.
A number of high-profile prospects in this year’s J2 class reportedly remain unsigned, including 21-year-old Cuban center fielder Victor Victor Mesa (no, that’s not a typo). In last year’s J2 period, Martinez remained on the market until March, once he had established residency outside of Cuba and was cleared by MLB to sign. Mesa reportedly left Cuba in May to get his own process underway.
