Blue Jays Announce 27 International Amateur Signings

[Leo Morgenstern]

The 2026 international amateur signing period began on January 15. Strictly speaking, it runs for 11 months (until December 15), though most signings take place right away. There will always be exceptions – the Blue Jays signed Korean right-hander Seojun Moon last September – but the majority of these deals come together as handshake agreements well before the signing window actually opens. Once it does, the teams and their new prospects tend to put pen to paper almost immediately.

The Toronto Blue Jays entered this year's signing period with $5.94 million to spend. That's on the low end, but it's not as low as it could have been. The Blue Jays just managed to get under the luxury tax threshold in 2024, which means they only lost $500,000 in bonus pool space for signing free agent Anthony Santander, who received a qualifying offer. If the Jays hadn't gotten under the tax, they would have lost another $500,000. That would have tied them with the Yankees, Mets, Astros, and Giants, who have the smallest bonus pools in the league for this year's signing period. 

Spending rules are strict when it comes to international amateur free agency. Teams can add more bonus pool money in trades, as the Blue Jays did last winter, taking on Myles Straw's contract from the Guardians in exchange for an extra $2 million to offer Roki Sasaki. However, there are rules. Bonus space can only be dealt in increments of $250,000, and clubs cannot acquire more than 60% of their original assigned pool. This year, for instance, Toronto could not have traded for more than $3.25 million.

Bonus pool space is a valuable trade asset because teams cannot exceed their allotment (original pool + any bonus money acquired in trades) for any reason. This isn't like the first-year player draft, in which teams can accept a penalty and spend more than they have in their bonus pool. It's a hard cap. Well... except that bonuses of $10,000 or less do not come out of the pool. The Jays could spend up to $5.94 million in larger bonuses this year and still hand out as many $10,000 bonuses as they'd like. 

So, how have the Blue Jays been using their $5.94 million? On Wednesday, they announced the signings of 27 international free agents:

Player	Position	Country of Origin
Juan Caricote	C	Venezuela
Sebastian Casanova	INF	Venezuela
Yariel Cordero	INF	Dominican Republic
Sahir De La Cruz	RHP	Dominican Republic
Abrahan Diaz	RHP	Venezuela
Fayone Dumorne	RHP	Dominican Republic
Frelian Flores	INF	Venezuela
Evington Gascon	RHP	Venezuela
Deret Gonzalez	OF	Venezuela
Jose Gori	C	Venezuela
Elian Guzman	LHP	Dominican Republic
Celwin Hurkmans	LHP	Netherlands
Alex Linares	INF	Dominican Republic
Eiker Lothar	INF	Venezuela
Michael Mesa	OF	Dominican Republic
Yoenis Morales	RHP	Cuba
Adrian Moreta	RHP	Dominican Republic
Luis Nunez	OF	Dominican Republic
Samuel Orellana	C	Venezuela
Ayberson Ortega	C	Venezuela
Manuel Parra	RHP	Venezuela
Gabriel Porras	INF	Venezuela
Ruben Sanchez	INF	Venezuela
Aneudi Severino	OF	Dominican Republic
Franiel Severino	RHP	Dominican Republic
Alieski Torres	RHP	Cuba
Isay Veras	C	Dominican Republic

Elian Guzman, Celwin Hurkmans, Isay Veras, and Alieski Torres signed in December, at least according to MLB.com's transaction tracker. In other words, those four might technically count among the international class of 2025. The other 23 officially joined the organization this past week. 

Catcher Juan Caricote commanded just over one-third of Toronto's bonus pool. MLB.com has him signing for $1,847,500, while Baseball America reported a slightly higher figure, $1.95 million. 

Outfielder Michael Mesa received the second-largest bonus of the class, though MLB.com and Baseball America are farther apart in their reported figures. MLB.com has him earning $797,500, while BA suggests it's $900,000. 

The last prospect whose bonus has been reported is outfielder Aneudi Severino. (Some sources spell his name "Aneudy," but MLB.com and the announcement from the Blue Jays spell his name with an "i" at the end.) MLB.com has his bonus at $697,500, while BA has it at $700,000. That's likely just a rounding error rather than a meaningful difference in reporting.

According to Baseball America's Bonus Board, Caricote received the 17th-highest bonus in this year's international class. Mesa's bonus ranks 55th and Severino's 71st. Regardless of whether you take the slightly higher figures from MLB.com or the slightly lower ones from BA, that's just under two-thirds of the bonus pool on those three players. As far as we know, none of the other 24 signed for more than $300,000, though further details about their bonuses are a mystery.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Caricote as the 11th-best prospect in this year's international class. The 17-year-old backstop was the only one of Toronto's signees to appear on FanGraphs's list, which went 59 players deep. He also appeared at No. 10 on FanGraphs's latest ranking of Toronto's top 40 prospects. Again, he was the only member of this year's international class to make the cut.

Interestingly, however, Caricote was not included on MLB.com's ranking of the top 50 international prospects – but Mesa was. The lefty-batting outfielder came in at No. 30, with a blurb saying he could be the Dominican Republic's "best hitter in the ‘26 class." Baseball America does not rank international prospects, but Ben Badler published a write-up of the Blue Jays' signees, highlighting Caricote, Mesa, and Severino, as well as shortstops Sebastian Casanova and Gabriel Porras.

Last year, shortstop Cristopher Polanco was Toronto's top-ranked international amateur signing, receiving a $2,297,500 bonus. However, fellow shortstop Juan Sanchez ($997,500 bonus) quickly became the star of the 2025 class. The young slugger put on a show in the DSL in his first professional season and is now widely considered a top-10 prospect in the system.

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