San Diego gave most of the international contract bonus pool to one player. Ethan Salas, a 16-year-old Venezuelan catcher prospect, quickly found himself on the money shelf. Among scouts, he is evaluated as a player worth it.
On the 16th (Korean time), as major league clubs were allowed to sign new amateur international contracts, news of contracts with promising players outside the United States began to spread. A representative example is Shim Jun-seok, a high school student produced by Deoksu High School. Shim Jun-seok has agreed to a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
And the most noteworthy player here is Salas, who signed a contract with the San Diego Padres for a whopping $5.6 million (approximately 6.96 billion won). A large portion of the international signing bonus pool allocated to San Diego went to Salas. The $5.6 million is a new record after the international contract bonus pool was changed to a ‘hard cap’.
MLB.com reporter Jesse Sanchez said: 슬롯사이트“San Diego, led by President AJ Preller, has been one of the most aggressive teams in the international acquisition market over the past few years. This year’s international acquisition could be the best in the club’s history. According to industry sources, San Diego has “We have reached an agreement with Venezuelan catcher Salas, who is ranked number one on the list of top 50 international prospects, for $5.6 million,” the report said.
San Diego had an international signing bonus pool of $5.8255 million (about 7.24 billion won) this year. It is an amount that can be increased through transactions with other clubs, but the fact that 96% of the initial allocation was given to one player can be seen as meaning that San Diego expects Salas that much.
MLB.com called Salas “born to play baseball.” While his grandfather, father, and uncle are all professional baseball players, he is attracting attention as a player with extraordinary talent.
According to scouting reports, Salas has excellent batting judgment along with the ability to hit balls all over the field. At the same time, he has excellent long-distance potential. On the catcher defense, he was praised for his handling and blocking skills. He has good throwing skills and good arm. Thanks to him, he was able to be recognized as ‘number one’ among world prospects.