International Notes Vol. II (No. 2, March)
Promising pitcher finds a home, 10 free agents, new signings, and more.
After a March dominated by Spring Training and the World Baseball Classic, the international signing landscape appeared relatively quiet. I say “appeared” because MLB organizations, scouts, and their evaluation teams never stop tracking talent, not only for the current 2025 to 2026 class, but also for future classes stretching as far as 2030 and 2031.
In this monthly column, perhaps the only one fully dedicated to what’s happening on the international scene, we continue to highlight the most notable developments from month to month.
This March also brought several releases from previous signing classes, including two players who once sat at the top of the 2020 to 2021 period.
Infielders Yiddi Cappe (Cuba) and Armando Cruz (Dominican Republic) were released by the Marlins and Nationals, respectively. Neither player made the expected progress after being evaluated as advanced talents for their age five years ago.
Cappe was unable to advance beyond Double A, despite ranking among the Marlins’ top 10 prospects between 2023 and 2024. Cruz, meanwhile, reached as high as No. 14 in the Nationals system in 2023, but struggled significantly afterward to move past High A Wilmington, posting a .568 OPS in 2024 and a .455 OPS in 2025.
Both Cruz and Cappe were among the top bonus signings of the 2020 to 2021 international class. Of all the players who topped that class, only one has reached the Major Leagues after five years, while three have already been released. The remaining players are still active, but at this point, they appear to be a long way from reaching the Big Leagues.
OF Pedro Leon ($4,000,000) HOU (Active) MLB
SS Armando Cruz ($3,900,000) WSH (Released) A+
SS Yiddi Cappe ($3,500,000) MIA (Released) AA
SS Cristian Hernandez ($3,000,000) CHI (Active) A+
SS Carlos Colmenarez ($3,000,000) TB (Active) AAA
SS Cristian Santana ($2,975,000) DET (Active) A
SS Wilman Diaz ($2,700,000) LA (Released) A+
OF Pedro Pineda ($2,500,000) ATH (Active) A+
OF Shalin Polanco ($2,350,000) PIT (Active) A+
SS Manuel Beltre ($2,350,000) TOR (Active) A+