The Athletics made waves to kick off the 2025 international signing period, adding to their burgeoning farm system by agreeing to deals with shortstop Ayden Johnson (MLB.com’s No. 12 international prospect) and outfielder Darwing Ozuna (No. 16) to headline their international class.
The club also landed two-way Japanese star Shotaro Morii on Wednesday, who received the largest signing bonus ($1,510,500) ever for a Japanese amateur outside Nippon Professional Baseball.
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Johnson landed a $1.5 million signing bonus, while Ozuna received $850,000. The A's had $7.56 million in pool money this year, tied for the highest base allotment among all organizations.
The commitments to Johnson, Morii and Venezuelan outfielder Breyson Guedez (also $1.5 million) are the largest figures that the A’s have handed out since inking right-hander Luis Morales to a $3 million bonus two years ago at the opening of the signing period. Morales was then the consensus top pitching prospect in his international class, and he ranks as the club’s No. 3 prospect after spending last season with High-A Lansing.
The Bahamas has recently emerged as a veritable hotbed of baseball talent, headlined by the Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. While Rangers No. 1 prospect Sebastian Walcott is also skyrocketing up MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list, there are many evaluators who see Johnson as the most polished product to come from The Bahamas yet.
Equipped with MLB-level physicality at a young age, Johnson fits the mold of a bat-first young prospect evaluators can dream on. He starts from a clean right-handed setup at the plate and then unleashes a fast and crisp bat path, which enables him to pepper the ball to all fields.
Earning supremely high marks for his acumen both on and off the field, A’s evaluators are excited to see what Johnson can do against pro pitching. Having trained with Jose Fortuna in the Dominican Republic, Johnson has had access to playing against top prep talent in both the U.S. and D.R. for a majority of the year.
Johnson’s plus athleticism will allow him to stick at shortstop for the time being, a spot where he is rock steady, forgoing defensive flash for consistent actions. He would become the first native of The Bahamas to suit up for the A’s if his considerable tool package all comes together in the next few years.
As for Ozuna, he grades out as having one of – if not the most – impressive throwing arms in the 2025 class. Equipped with a true howitzer that profiles him as a prototypical strong thrower/power bat right fielder, Ozuna is already 6-foot-3 at just 16 years old.
Juan Soto, Elly De La Cruz and countless others got their start at the Niche Baseball Academy in Santo Domingo North, Dominican Republic, training with Cristian Batista, a member of MLB’s Trainer Partnership Program. Ozuna is the latest in that lineage, boasting an above-average power tool in his own right.
Ozuna has big, long arms that help him generate power as a right-handed hitter, particularly when he fires his hips through the zone à la Mookie Betts. In some ways, he will be an upside signing as he continues to fill out, but it’s easy to dream on the bat due to his background and pedigree.
An international player is eligible to sign with a Major League team between Jan. 15 and Dec. 15. He must turn 16 before he signs and be 17 before Sept. 1 the following year.
That means players born between Sept. 1, 2007, and Aug. 31, 2008, will be eligible to sign in the current signing period. Players must be registered with Major League Baseball in advance to be eligible to sign.
Additional notable Athletics signees and bonuses:
Breyson Guedez, OF, Venezuela -- $1,500,000
Yorvit Diaz, SS, Dominican Republic -- $500,000
Yordan Rodriguez, RHP, Cuba -- $400,000