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Report: Blue Jays sign Dominican prospect De Castro for $1.2 million
July 2 is one of the most important days on the MLB calendar as teams around the league make a flurry of moves to bolster their talent pool.
The international free agent signing period is now underway, and the Toronto Blue Jays are reportedly in on the action, picking up Rikelvin De Castro for $1.2 million.
De Castro ranks as the 27th-best prospect available and profiles as a shortstop. Here’s what MLB Pipeline has to say about the Dominican 16-year-old:
De Castro is a high-energy athlete with an impressive set of tools across the board. He's slender, but he's strong. He's a prospect with good hands, solid footwork, speed and a high baseball IQ.
It's no surprise he has been compared to a young Jose Reyes.
At the plate, De Castro is a contact hitter who hits line drives all over the field. The belief is that he will develop gap power as he body matures, and he gains strength in the coming years. If all goes according to plan, he'll stick at shortstop and eventually sport a .265 batting average with 10 to 12 home runs in the big leagues one day.
But for now, he's considered one of the best fielders at any position in this year's class because of his defensive actions and plus arm strength. He's not the fastest runner, but he's quick and makes up for the lack of speed usually associated with shortstop prospects with hustle. Scouts also love his natural instincts and makeup.
Whether the De Castro signing works out is a question we won’t know the answer to for years, but whenever you’re bringing in athletes expected to stick at shortstop you’re doing something right. Tracking the youngster’s progress will be an exercise in delayed gratification, as for all his talents he’s probably not going to take a Vladimir Guerrero Jr.-like high-speed track to the majors.
The Blue Jays came into the international free agent signing period with $5,398,300 to spend, but with almost all of the top prospects already signed it will likely be distributed to a larger pool of lesser-known players.
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