Braves add two highly touted international free agents
Team agrees to terms with pair of 16-year-olds from Dominican Republic
ATLANTA -- The Braves agreed to terms with two International free agents from the Dominican Republic on Friday, shortstop Derian Cruz and outfielder Cristian Pache.
Both 16-year-old players will report to the Braves' Dominican Academy.
"The Braves organization has been committed to adding young, impact talent and the signings of Derian Cruz and Cristian Pache bring us two exciting players with high upside," Braves assistant general manager John Coppolella said in a news release. "[Special assistant to the GM] Gordon Blakeley and his entire staff -- Marc Russo, Mike Silvestri, Lebi Ochoa, Alex Cotto, and others should all be commended for their hard work."
The Braves made three trades that involved four Minor Leaguers (Cody Martin, Caleb Dirks, Jordan Paroubeck and Garrett Fulencheck) to add a little more than $1.1 million to their bonus pool in order to prevent going over their pool allotment and facing taxes and signing penalties.
MLB.com ranked Pache the No. 10 International prospect and Cruz the No. 24 prospect of this signing period.