NEW YORK (AP) — Elian Peña, a shortstop from the Dominican Republic who turned 17 in October, agreed to a $5 million bonus with the New York Mets on Wednesday that was the largest amount on the first day of the 2025 international signing period.
Peña was rated the No. 3 prospect in the international class for this year by MLB.com behind Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, who must agree to a deal by Jan. 23, and Dominican shortstop Josuar De Jesus Gonzalez, who agreed with the San Francisco Giants at $2,997,500.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, all hoping to sign Sasaki, did not finalize any contracts with bonuses of more than $10,000, which count against their signing bonus pools. Just half of the 30 teams finalized deals of more than $10,000 in the opening hours of the signing period.
“It just created uncertainty for teams and certainly created uncertainty for some players,” Detroit Tigers assistant general manager Rob Metzler said. "Certainly the 2025 signing period has had more uncertainty than others.”
Dominican outfielder Cris Rodriguez, ranked fourth, signed with Detroit for $3,197,500, and Andrew Salas, a shortstop and outfielder ranked fifth, signed with Miami for $3.7 million. Salas was born in the U.S. and moved to Venezuela.
Hoping to become a two-way player just like Shohei Ohtani, 18-year-old Shotaro Morii made the rare decision to bypass Japanese professional baseball entirely and agreed with the Athletics at $1,510,500.
Other agreements included Dominican infielder Johan De Los Santos and Pittsburgh ($2.25 million), Venezuelan catcher Gabriel Davalillo and the Los Angeles Angels ($2 million), Venezuelan infielder Brayan Cortesia and Washington ($1.92 million), Dominican infielder Darell Morel and Pittsburgh ($1,778,600), Venezuelan infielder Santiago Leon and Minnesota ($1,697,500), Dominican outfielder Maykel Coret and Tampa Bay ($1.6 million), Venezuelan outfielder Breyson Guedez and the Athletics ($1.5 million), Dominican outfielder Elian De La Cruz and Arizona ($1.1 million), Dominican shortstop Christopher Acosta and Milwaukee ($1.1 million), Dominican infielder Raymer Medina and Tampa Bay ($1.1 million), Venezuelan catcher Daniel Hernandez and Washington ($1.1 million) and Dominican infielder Warel Solano and Tampa Bay ($1.05 million).
Players born from Sept. 1, 2007, through Aug. 31, 2008, are eligible to sign during this year’s period, which ends Dec. 15. Teams have signing bonus pools ranging from about $5.1 million to $7.6 million.
Australian right-hander Robinson Smith signed with Pittsburgh for $400,000 and Italian right-hander Filippo Sabatini with Philadelphia for $80,000. Ugandan infielder Armstrong Muhoozi agreed with Pittsburgh for $40,000.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
The Associated Press
