Phillies news and rumors 1/16: Team agrees to $1.4 million deal with 17-year-old Dominican outfielder

Citizens Bank Park has been home to the Phillies since 2004. (Tim Kelly/Phillies Nation)

January 15 marked the beginning of the international signing period and a young outfielder from the Dominican Republic headlines this year’s Phillies class.

The Phillies, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jesse Sanchez, agreed to a $1.4 million deal with 17-year-old Jalvin Arias.

Per Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies agreed to deals with 21 players. Here are the names listed on Baseball America’s international signing tracker as of Tuesday morning:

Cesar Mujica, catcher, Venezuela
Julio Polanco Jr., right-handed pitcher, Dominican Republic
Anderson Nava, catcher, Venezuela
Winifer Castillo, outfielder, Dominican Republic
Yadimir Fuentes, catcher, Cuba
Jorge Guzman, left-handed pitcher, Mexico
Mailerson Casanova, shortstop, Dominican Republic
Ibrahim Ruiz, outfielder, Venezuela
Josueth Quiñonez, outfielder, Venezuela
Jose Familia, shortstop, Dominican Republic
Cristobal Bena, shortstop, Dominican Republic
David Freitas, outfielder, Venezuela
Rene Yrish, right-handed pitcher, Dominican Republic

The international signing period runs through Dec. 15. Players who reside outside the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico and are at least 16 at the time of signing and will be 17 or older by Sept. 1 of next year are eligible to sign with clubs during the signing period.

The prospect that signs for the highest dollar amount does not always turn out to be the best player in the class. The 2017-18 Phillies international signing class was headlined by shortstop Luis Garcia, who signed for $2.5 million in July 2017. A few months later, Johan Rojas signed with the Phillies for $10,000. Garcia was designated for assignment by the Phillies in Sept. 2022 while Rojas is the frontrunner to be the team’s starting center fielder on Opening Day.

The Phillies, along with the Yankees, Rangers and Padres, have the lowest international bonus pool to work with this year at $4,652,200. The team lost one million dollars from this year’s pool for signing qualified free agent Trea Turner last offseason.

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