This week, the new period to sign international free agents will be officially open.
It means teams such as the Cleveland Guardians will be able to add to their organizational pool of players.
The Guards have 26 commitments and they will be able to put pen to paper on them starting on Wednesday.
To celebrate the new signing period, MLB Pipeline put together quite an interesting list: each team’s best international prospect.
The Guardians have plenty of talent acquired via international free agency: Angel Martinez, Angel Genao, Juan Brito, and many of their top prospects were once in this position a few years ago.
The league’s prospect specialists, however, consider outfielder Jaison Chourio the best international prospect on the Guardians.
“Chourio can’t match the pure power and speed of his older brother, Jackson, but he might offer better bat-to-ball skills and defensive value. Signed out of Venezuela for $1.2 million in 2022, he was named the Carolina League’s MVP and top prospect last year after leading the Single-A circuit in walks (86 in 98 games) and ranking second in on-base percentage (.414) and third in OPS (.812) at age 19 before breaking his left wrist diving for a fly ball in late August,” they wrote about him.
Clearly, Chourio is very highly regarded by analysts: his on-base skills are very impressive, as he shows complete control of the strike zone.
He is already 100 percent over the wrist fracture that ended his 2024 campaign prematurely and will be ready for new, harder challenges this year.
Thanks to his 144 wRC+ last season in Single-A Lynchburg, he should be just about ready to be tested against tougher pitching in the High-A Lake County Captains.
If Chourio keeps passing every test with flying colors as he has to this point, there is a chance he will become a major leaguer in two or three years.
Fans can’t wait.
NEXT: Guardians Could Adopt Aggressive Approach When International Signing Period Opens
