Q&A: Phillies international scouts dish on '26 signee Francisco Renteria and more

The Phillies were active on the international market when the 2026 signing period opened in January, headlined by the No. 3 prospect in the class, Francisco Renteria. After signing the outfielder for $4 million, the organizational buzz around him is already palpable. So MLB Pipeline talked to international scouting director Derrick Chung and international scouting senior advisor Sal Agostinelli about Renteria and the overall landscape of international scouting.

MLB Pipeline: How did you find out about Francisco Renteria? When did you first see him and how did you evaluate him over time?

Agostinelli: I got a call from Carlos Salas, who had seen him. He’s our Latin American coordinator. He told me, “I need you to go see this guy.” So they had an open workout in Orlando, I’d say every team was there, there were like 50 scouts there. He was 13 or 14 years old and he really stood out. We all got in there right after that quickly and we went to see him. And progressively, it was evident he was going to be the guy we were really focusing on. I think we have a checklist of what we like, including things like his background, his makeup, his body composition, his chase rate, where he’s going to play in the future ... there are just so many things that come into it (when you give a player) a lot of money. We do our due diligence for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Chung: I think as far as checking boxes, he pretty much checked all the boxes when it comes to makeup, intelligence, the trainer he’s coming from. Not only that but also the body and tools, the athleticism, explosiveness and feel for the game, the ability to make contact, his hand-eye coordination. He checks all the boxes we look for and his intangibles are pretty unbelievable for a kid of his age. He’s such a good prospect to put into our system and let our player development people do their thing and let him fly.

MLB Pipeline: We’re working on this year’s Phillies’ Top 30 prospect rankings and it can be challenging to figure out where to place a guy on a list when he’s yet to play an inning of pro ball yet. But people are excited about him and he’s going to rank pretty high. You’ve both been doing this a while, Sal for longer obviously, but where do you put Renteria among the players you’ve signed over the years?

Chung: Sal, you’ve signed a lot more players than I have, so why don’t you go ahead?

Agostinelli: I think he’s probably one of the best, if not the best, guys in terms of upside in our system now. That being said, he hasn’t played. But when people who know scouting see him, when they see him take BP, when they watch him in a game, they’re going to say, "Wow, this guy has ability." I think if you put him behind guys like Aidan Miller, Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford, he fits in that spot. I might still put a guy like Aroon Escobar ahead of him. If we still had Eduardo Tait, I might put him ahead of Renteria. I think that’s a perfect spot for him. It doesn’t put pressure on him and allows him to go out and do what he has to do, not feel the stress. When we signed Carlos Carrasco, he was the No. 1 prospect very early, and I think it went to his head a little bit, to be quite frank with you, though obviously he wound up going on to be a really good pitcher.

Chung: For me, I would say he probably has the best mix of tools that I've seen doing this over the years, when it comes to, you know, the athleticism, power, the hand-eye coordination and feel to hit. When we’re talking about the five tools and maybe the sixth tool of makeup ... this is the best mix of tools I've ever seen since I started doing this.

MLB Pipeline: The process in evaluating talent on this market is so fascinating. As you mentioned, you start seeing these guys at age 13 or 14. It’s hard enough evaluating the talent of high schoolers in the States. How do you try to project what they’ll be like at 20, let alone 25 and in the big leagues?

Chung: We do our best to check all those boxes. I think the makeup is a huge part. The hardest thing for us is the physical projection because they change so much from that age. We do our best to do everything we can to get the best information we possibly can in order to make the best decision. When you start talking about profiles, you ask things like, "Will he be able to stay in the middle of the field or will he end up moving to the corners?" We get the best information we can from within our organization, from strength and conditioning guys and athletic trainers to everyone else trying to figure out the best answer possible for all of these kids.

Agostinelli: There are so many dynamics, so many different intangibles. You have to deal with the agents. You have to go through knowing that you’re going to give him a lot of money -- when they get money, a lot of guys change. Knowing they have a grounded family is important, knowing if the parents are in the picture to help guide him through this time, we have to think about all of these things. Things have changed so much from when I first started. You’d see a kid and give him 10 grand. People would say, “OK, he signed a bunch of guys,” and you get two or three guys in the big leagues and everybody thought you did a great job. You got these guys in the big leagues for 50 grand and people didn’t realize you signed another 20 that didn’t make it. Now it’s completely different. There are a lot of mistakes being made with a lot of money. That’s why it’s so important, like with Renteria, we know the agent, he understands the game. We know the family, we have all the data we get about how he does things. We continue to make sure we stay on point and don’t lose sight of that process and that checklist.