Guardians' international free agency strategy just delivered the balance they needed

At long last, baseball’s international signing period for 2026 is officially here, which means countless amateur international prospects from across the world can officially sign with an MLB organization. 

Although most of the prospects have already agreed to handshake agreements with the clubs that have been courting them, Thursday’s deadline is a tangible deadline that allows for both players and clubs to be able to build together toward a shared future of success. 

The Guardians were no stranger to that deadline, as they inked 22 international prospects to contracts, with signing bonuses ranging from $800,000 to $10,000 (H/T to Guardians Prospective for compiling a list of all the players the Guardians were in on). 

While none of the players signed will impact Cleveland's big league picture any time soon considering all of the players signed are 16-or-17-years-old, the Guardians are among baseball’s best at capitalizing on the international signing market.

Not only is their roster is headlined by an international signing (José Ramírez), but their minor league system is filled with talented international players like Angel Genao and Jaison Chourio. 

And it seems like the Guardians went into this year’s signing period with that mentality in mind, as they used their $8,034,900 in bonus pool money to build a deep international class. 

Guardians spread money around to variety of prospects as international signing period opens 

The biggest bonus the Guardians are giving out in this year’s period is $820,000 to Svert Reynoso, a switch-hitting Dominican shortstop.

He’s currently playing at shortstop and is still growing into his six-foot-frame, but there’s been some buzz that he could transition to being a corner infielder or outfielder, which the Guardians seem to consider with almost every prospect who starts as a shortstop.

The next biggest bonus is going to another switch-hitting Dominican shortstop in Rafeli Lara, who signed for $800,000. He seems more likely to shift to a position other than shortstop, but his bat seems legit. 

The third player of their Dominican shortstop triad is Karel Naranjo, who signed for $620,000. He doesn’t have a ton of power right now, but he’s been lauded for his ability to get on base and cause damage once he gets on there. 

All three of them fit the mold that the Guardians seem to covet in their prospects, and could all quickly move through Cleveland’s system. 

Dominican righthander Cristofer Brujan earned the highest signing bonus from the Guardians this signing period, as he signed for $260,000, which is a bit more than Cleveland usually pays for international pitching talent. 

His fastball currently sits at 94 miles per hour, and looks more comfortable throwing his slider and changeup, per reports. 

Venezuelan shortstop Luis Hernandez stood out as the top prospect of this year’s class, and he signed with the Giants for almost all of their $5,440,000 in bonus pool money. 

The Guardians are never going to make the biggest splash in free agency, so the international signing period serves as a great way for them to restock their coffers in the hopes of finding the next