Brayan Cortesia, 17, is a 6’2″, 180 lb. shortstop described as “a plus runner who projects to stay in the infield and has a good shot to remain a shortstop [with] above-average arm.” His bonus has been pegged at $1.92 million.
Daniel Hernandez, 16, is an offensive-minded catcher (have the Nats had a defensive-minded catcher since Sandy Leon?) who’s listed at 5’11” and 168 lbs, but clearly they expect him to put on more weight if not grow another inch or two. While agile behind the plate, his arm is considered below-average. It’s the bat that has Nats scouts typing one-handed: “a loose, easy stroke with good bat control…drives the ball well in the air, showing the signs for his flashes of home run power to continue to trend up.”
Combined with Henrnandez’s $1.1 million bonus, the combined total of $3.02 million is nearly half of the Nats’ $6.261 million allotment.
Twelve other players have signed. We know their names, positions, and their country of origin but not the bonus amount:
- SS Ronny Bello, 17 (D.R.)
- RHP Jesus Carrasco, 18 (Ven.)
- C Junior Castillo, 17 (D.R.)
- C Edgardo Figueroa, 17 (Ven.)
- OF Jonierbis Garces, 17 (Ven.)
- SS Marconi German, 17 (D.R.)
- RHP Juan Lopez, 20 (D.R.)
- LHP Hernan Mejia, 17 (Ven.)
- RHP Manuel Ruiz, 18 (Ven.)
- RHP Jhondel Salas, 17 (Ven.)
- SS Adrian Tusen, 17 (D.R.)
- OF Esnaider Vargas, 17 (D.R.)
The Nats tendency to sign older (presumably overlooked) pitchers continues with three of the five will be 19 or older by the end of the DSL season. Eight of the 14 players were from Venezuela and nine are position players.
Otherwise the observation from one of my followers on BlueSky rings particularly true:”[It’s a] list of names. A bunch of dudes you might hear about in 3 to 5 years.”