Arlington, Texas -- The Texas Rangers on Thursday officially announced the signing of outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez as an international free agent.
Martinez has reported to the Rangers Academy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and is expected to start the 2018 season in the Dominican Summer League.
Rangers Assistant General Manager Mike Daly and Martinez will participate in a press conference later today at the El Embajador Hotel in Santo Domingo.
Martinez, who turned 22 on March 21, has spent the past two seasons in the independent Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (Can-Am League), first, with a traveling Cuban National team in 2016, and then with Trois-Rivieres last season. With Trois-Rivieres, Martinez batted .297/345/.449/.794 with 7 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 57 games.
The left-handed batter and thrower debuted in Cuba's Serie Nacional in 2012, joining Jose Abreu, Aledmys Diaz, and Jose Iglesias as the only Cuban-born players in Major League Baseball to debut in Cuba at age 16. He appeared in nearly 300 games during his five seasons in the league, compiling a .293/.393/.430/.823 slash line. In his final season in 2016-17 with Guantanamo and Camaguey, Martinez combined to bat .333/.469/.498/.967 with 6 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 61 games. He also totaled 52 walks with just 30 strikeouts during the campaign.
Martinez has been tabbed the 3rd-best prospect in the Texas farm system and 60th-best prospect overall by Baseball America. He has been ranked as the 70th-best prospect according to MLB.com, while the site also named him the 2nd-best international prospect in 2017.