MIAMI -- Signing the Mesa brothers not only adds two potentially impactful position players to the Marlins' system, it also sends a signal that the organization intends to be aggressive in the international market.
In previous years, that hasn't always been the case, as Miami didn't allocate as many resources or show as strong a commitment to acquiring top international talent. That philosophy has changed.
On Monday, the Marlins made their biggest international free agent splash in almost two decades -- announcing the signings of outfielders Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr. The two defected from Cuba in May, and Miami made a strong push to land them both after Major League Baseball declared them free agents.
"Historically, this organization hasn't really invested in the international market, but that's something we wanted to do moving forward," Marlins chief executive officer Derek Jeter said.

Not since Jose Cabrera signed for around $2 million in 1999 have the Marlins made an international signing as high-profile as the Mesa brothers. Victor Victor, 22, is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 1 international prospect, and he is ranked as Miami's new No. 1 overall prospect. His brother, 17, is still a relatively unknown, but his talents were evident during an Oct. 5 showcase at Marlins Park.
Victor Victor signed for $5.25 million, and Victor Jr., signed for $1 million.

The Marlins ownership group, headed by Bruce Sherman and Jeter, are now making international signings a priority.
Why not?
With its large Cuban community, the Marlins feel they have a geographical and cultural advantage over many clubs. Miami's diversity was certainly used as a sales pitch to the Mesa brothers. Even their showcase was in Miami.
"Look, if that's an advantage for us, we need to use it," Jeter said. "And it is. A lot of the international players would love to come here and play in Miami. Any so-called advantage that you have, you have to use it. These players were very comfortable when they came here to Miami, and I know that they are looking forward to the day they can be here at the Major League level."
"It's not a secret: There are a lot of Latinos here, a lot of Cubans, so we feel like home here," Victor Victor said through an interpreter. "But mostly, the seriousness, the plan that this organization has, the way that they've been working with us is one of the things that really attracted us the most."

Giving themselves the best chance to signing the brothers took some work. The Marlins made three trades this month to boost their international bonus pool from $4.3 million to almost $6.6 million. That put them on equal footing with the Orioles as the two franchises with the most dollars to spend. When offers are financially similar, the Marlins think they can use the draw of Miami as an advantage.
"From the beginning, with the new ownership group, you sit down with Mr. Sherman and Derek, and you tell them where we can improve, and where we can get better," Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said. "We had not been very active internationally. We knew that was an area we needed to get better. We're the Gateway to the Americas, as Derek said. We should be aggressive and competitive when it comes to international talent.

"That's what we did from the second we heard the brothers were going to be available. We put ourselves in the best position possible to make them Marlins. Making trades that included international money, and it put us in a position where we could be aggressive and get, in our opinion, two impactful position players and add them to our system."