New York Yankees News: Yankees sign four international prospects

Yesterday was the first day in the International signing period that lasts until December. The New York Yankees signed four international prospects yesterday. The Yankees only had $4,232,700 in bonus money to dish out, and unlike in previous years, that’s locked in. They can’t trade for extra bonus money; that’s an MLB-wide change for this signing period. If you recall, they lost a million in bonus money when they signed Gerrit Cole before the 2020 season.

The most important and expected signing was for 17-year-old shortstop Hans Montero to a $1.7 million contract. The Dominican-born shortstop was listed among MLB’s “best of the rest” for top prospects. They had been linked to Montero since September 2019. The best of the rest are those that fall below the top 15. He is a 5-foot-10, 160-pound shortstop from the Dominican Republic; Montero has solid tools across the board but doesn’t project to impact player. He should be able to stick at shortstop.

According to Baseball America, the Yankees also came to terms with Dominican outfielders Fidel Montero (no relation) and Ramiro Altagracia and switch-hitting Venezuelan shortstop Kleiner Delgado. Note that Fidel Montero is a shortstop on the BA tracker, but he profiles as an outfielder. The exact details of those signings have not been released.

Yesterday was a very active day for the New York Yankees. Along with the four international signings, they avoided arbitration with Aaron Judge by signing him to a $10.175 million contract. But in the biggest news of the day, they retained DJ LeMahieu in pinstripes for $15 million annually over the next six years. It was a win-win for both parties as the Yankees keep their annual cost down, and DJ got the security he wanted. The Yankees then finished off the day by signing two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber to a one year $11 million contract, thus bolstering the starting rotation.