Yankees sign a pair of highly regarded international free agents

With Shohei Ohtani and Kevin Maitan already off the board, the Yankees inked international free agents Raimfer Salinas and Antonio Cabello.

As we recover from our Christmas food coma and holiday shopping bonanza, the Yankees did a bit of business last Saturday that had nothing to do with Pirates starting pitcher Gerrit Cole.

Having missed out on the Japanese Babe Ruth, Shohei Ohtani (or Kyuji Fujikawa, only time will tell which Ohtani plays like) the Yanks finally decided to spend some of the $3.5 million in international bonus money that was burning a hole in their pocket.

The Yankees officially signed a pair of talented Venezuelans in 16-year-old outfielder Raimfer Salinas and 17-year-old catcher Antonio Cabello.

MLB.com ranks the duo as the No. 6 and No. 8 top international free agents while Baseball America has them listed at No. 10 and No. 15, respectively.

Having traded three top 10 prospects to the A’s for Sonny Gray and top five prospect Blake Rutherford to the White Sox, all in 2017, scooping up multiple low-cost international free agents is a quick way to give a still robust farm system a rapid infusion of developmental talent.

More from Yankees News

• Yankees analyst Cameron Maybin projects surprise landing spot for Gary Sánchez
• Yankees swipe intriguing minor-league FA lefty flamethrower from Braves
• What does Carlos Rodón’s new jersey number mean for Domingo Germán?
• Red Sox living in different financial ‘galaxy’ than Yankees Killer Rafael Devers
• Yankees slice surprising fan favorite off roster to make room for Tommy Kahnle

The organization previously agreed to terms with two other Venezuelan’s, outfielder Everson Periera (No.4 international prospect) and shortstop Roberto Chirinos (No. 16), in addition to Dominican shortstop Ronny Rojas (No. 11). All-in-all, it gives the Yankees five of the top 16 international free agents this signing period.

As for Salinas, the speedy outfielder is said to possess many of the same 5-tool abilities as Yankees No. 3 overall prospect Estevan Florial. Salinas’ defense and arm strength are already far superior to any other 16-year-old minor leaguer. According to MLB.com’s scouting report:

Salinas is already a decent runner, whether it’s on the basepaths or roaming the outfield … At the plate, Salinas has shown an advanced approach and good bat speed. He’s been able to hit to all fields while also showing some home run power. Salinas’ overall tools package could land him in the middle of the lineup one day as a possible run producer. Scouts like his makeup and his overall confidence in his abilities.

In regards to Cabello, the fact that he can not only catch but has seen time at both second base and center field adds to his overall athleticism and value going forward.

Though his offensive game has yet to catch up with his far superior blocking ability behind the plate and quick release to shoot down would-be base stealers, Cabello should have plenty of time to grow into the type of player the organization expects. His MLB.com scouting report states:

He has a strong body and has been clocked at 6.45 seconds in the 60-yard dash. Cabello also hits in games and his makeup is considered off of the charts. He has built a reputation as a tough and hard-nosed competitor who hates to lose.

Next: Let's try to trade Ellsbury for Samardzija

Naturally, all the kids mentioned are years away from contributing at the big league level, but as we’ve learned from recent trades, you can never have too much stock in the farm system to deal from.