Cubs Expected to Sign 3 Top-50 International Prospects Next Week

[Jamie Cameron]

The signing period for international amateur free agency has never been more widely trumpeted. Whether the Cubs land Roki Sasaki or not, though, they're going to bring in some noteworthy talent next week; let's learn about them all.

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The new IFA signing period begins on Jan. 15, barely a week from now. The Cubs are one of 12 teams that will have a lower-tier bonus pool of $6,261,600. The 2025 international signing period is unlike any in recent memory, with the decision of Roki Sasaki set to have significant ripple effects throughout baseball. While it seems smart to take the field when connecting the Cubs and Sasaki, whoever he signs with will likely leave several top prospects hanging without deals. While it’s normally fair to confidently assume teams will make good on their verbal agreements with prospects, this season, I’d approach the window with less certainty. Currently, Chicago has been closely tied to (and is expected to sign) three of the top 50 prospects, per MLB.com and Baseball America.

10. Juan Cabada, SS, Dominican Republic
The Cubs have an interesting class this year, with one more highly-ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline) signing a lower bonus and one lower-ranked prospect signing one of the larger bonuses in the class. Cabada is the former of those two prospects.

Cabada is a left-handed-hitting, 16-year-old shortstop prospect. Operating from an open stance, he shows the ability to use all parts of the field for his line-drive power; his hit tool is far ahead of that power right now. Cabada has good supplementary tools to round out a strong overall profile. An above-average arm combines with smooth infield action to give him a good chance to stick at short. He has above-average speed, and is a threat on the basepaths.

Cabada is expected to sign the 24th-largest bonus in the international free agent class, per Baseball America. He’ll likely sign for between $1.5-2 million. Should the Cubs sign Sasaki, he's one prospect who might attract a swarm of bidders and end up with even more money than he'll get if he and the Cubs do execute their expected contract.

13. Wilfry De La Cruz, SS, Dominican Republic
De La Cruz is a switch-hitting 17-year-old shortstop prospect who offers one of the more excitingly projectable frames in the entire international class. Already standing 6-foot-3, he's a twitchy athlete whose swing looks better from the left side. Scouting reports have praised his strike-zone awareness, and it’s easy to dream on his current pull-side power turning into plus all-fields power in time. Defensively, the headline is a plus arm that will lend itself to shortstop or third base. He has smooth actions and a good internal clock. De La Cruz seems like a lock to stay on the left side of the infield.

De La Cruz is expected to garner the 13th-highest bonus in this class, somewhere between $2 million and $3 million.

NR. Juan Tomas, SS, Dominican Republic
While Tomas isn’t ranked on the MLB Pipeline list, he’s in line to receive a top-50 bonus, and therefore worthy of discussion here as an up-arrow prospect. A 17-year-old, switch-hitting shortstop prospect with a powerful, projectable frame. he’s a wiry hitter with at least solid power from a swing that’s direct to the ball. Defensively, it’s just an average arm, but plus speed may eventually lend itself to a move to the outfield if he continues to grow.

Tomas is expected to collect the 34th-largest bonus in this class. He’ll likely command between $1-2 million.

The Cubs seem to be continuing a recent trend of inking one prospect to one of the larger bonuses in the prospect class, while spreading a good portion of the bonus pool around a few more prospects in the top 50. This new crop will undoubtedly be a fun follow in the 2025 season—assuming the team doesn't end up spending that money another way.

View full article

[CubinNY]

four or five more years to get them to the States. Hopefully, the site is still around and able to see well enough to enjoy the harvest. 

[Tim]

6 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

four or five more years to get them to the States. Hopefully, the site is still around and able to see well enough to enjoy the harvest. 

If they're not in the states within 4-5 years, they're never making it to the states.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

4 hours ago, CubinNY said:

four or five more years to get them to the States. Hopefully, the site is still around and able to see well enough to enjoy the harvest. 

4-5 years? lmao

[CaliforniaRaisin]

FYI - 

Wilfri de la Cruz is expected to sign for $2.3 million. Juan Cabada is expected to sign for $1.5 million. Juan Tomas is expected to sign for $1.1 million.

[CubinNY]

48 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

4-5 years? lmao

2 or 3 years? 

[Tryptamine]

Well if all 3 sign that pretty much puts an end to our Sasaki hopes.

[thawv]

46 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

FYI - 

Wilfri de la Cruz is expected to sign for $2.3 million. Juan Cabada is expected to sign for $1.5 million. Juan Tomas is expected to sign for $1.1 million.

Not much money for Roki then!  If he chooses the Cubs for some reason, they will have to renege on those other 3 signings.  Or will Roki take so little money to play for the Cubs? 

[Bertz]

2 minutes ago, thawv said:

Not much money for Roki then!  If he chooses the Cubs for some reason, they will have to renege on those other 3 signings.  Or will Roki take so little money to play for the Cubs? 

They're simply going to wait a week to put pen to paper.  Everyone understands the situation.

[Irrelevant Dude]

41 minutes ago, Bertz said:

They're simply going to wait a week to put pen to paper.  Everyone understands the situation.

Everyone understands, and I get it, but it's still really dirty.  Agreeing to terms with a kid where life-changing money is involved and then backing out because a bigger fish comes along.  Yes, that kid may still get similar money from someone else, but that has a domino effect as well.  Somewhere down the line, money is getting unfairly taken away from these young international players.  You can't blame the teams for doing it, but the system sucks.

[thawv]

45 minutes ago, Bertz said:

They're simply going to wait a week to put pen to paper.  Everyone understands the situation.

I thought the Cubs had 6.26 million to spend until Dec 15th, where it reloads a month after that.  Is that not how it works?  How can they give Roki the whole thing and have any money to sign these 3 kids?  Isn't the money gone for the rest of the year?  Thanks. 

[Bertz]

12 minutes ago, thawv said:

I thought the Cubs had 6.26 million to spend until Dec 15th, where it reloads a month after that.  Is that not how it works?  How can they give Roki the whole thing and have any money to sign these 3 kids?  Isn't the money gone for the rest of the year?  Thanks. 

If Roki chooses the Cubs he will take up their entire pool and these guys who have a handshake agreement will go back out onto the market.  Instead of signing these guys on 1/15 like the team traditionally would, this year they will hold off a week or so until Roki has made his decision.  Every team in the Roki sweepstakes will operate this way.

The Dodgers have very little money committed to this period, I'm guessing because they presume Roki will choose them.  If Roki goes to another team though, expect the Dodgers to more or less inherit that other team's IFA class.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

1 hour ago, thawv said:

I thought the Cubs had 6.26 million to spend until Dec 15th, where it reloads a month after that.  Is that not how it works?  How can they give Roki the whole thing and have any money to sign these 3 kids?  Isn't the money gone for the rest of the year?  Thanks. 

Correct that the Cubs have $6.26 million but the agreements they have are all handshake agreements and can be backed out of, if necessary. Sadly, this seems to happen to a few kids ever year.. Plus they can trade for up to 60% of their pool, which would be an additional $3.75 million.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

2 hours ago, CubinNY said:

2 or 3 years? 

Most 7-figure IFAs are stateside after one season in the DSL. Off the top of my head, this was true for Kevin Made, Moisés Ballesteros, Cristian Hernández, Adán Sánchez, Jefferson Rojas, Ángel Cepeda and Derniche Valdez.

[thawv]

4 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Correct that the Cubs have $6.26 million but the agreements they have are all handshake agreements and can be backed out of, if necessary. Sadly, this seems to happen to a few kids ever year.. Plus they can trade for up to 60% of their pool, which would be an additional $3.75 million.

This I already knew.  I must have misunderstood what he was posting about waiting a week to sign.  Thanks!