The wait to get to January 15 marks the date that the Nats will announce their newest international free agency class led by two Venezuelan players, shortstop Brayan Cortesia, and catcher Daniel Hernandez. Official signing lists can get announced at 11am on Jan. 15.
Per @francysromeroFR rankings (h/t to Wadlez), Cortesia and Hernandez ranked at №7 and №13 respectively. Cortesia has speed and only turned 17 in November. His tools should get even better with his 6.4 speed in the 60, and his above average defense and arm. Hernandez is considered a strong offensive player with solid defensive skills at catcher. Could he be the next Wilson Ramos? Romero and FanGraphs have Hernandez ranked as the best catcher in this international class. Baseball America does their rankings based on bonus dollars paid, and FanGraphs ranks the prospects on Future Value (FV).
The last three years, the Nats shifted away from a strategy of spending most of their international money on one player. This year, the Nats have a total spending cap of $6,261,600. Not every team has the same spending cap. Players signed for $10,000 or less are exempt from that cap. Last year, the Nats went with a similar strategy of signing two Top-20 players when they signed OF Victor Hurtado and SS Angel Feliz at the head of their class.
This is the first time the Nationals went with Venezuelan amateurs at the top of their bonus board as it has been either Dominican or Cuban in the past. Venezuelan crosschecker, Juan Indriago, has stepped up as the key scout in this international signing period to acquire both Cortesia and Hernandez.
“Cortesia is a guy we believe is a five-tool player who can play shortstop. Very exciting. Physical upside. Above-average athlete who is going to be an above-average runner. Pretty much all the tools across the board are above-average, with a chance to hit for power.”
— Victor Rodriguez, Nationals’ Director of International Operations said on Wednesday
Most of the names are known at the higher-end of these IFA classes as players’ commitments are not a well-kept secret. This year is a different story because of the Roki Sasaki situation. The Japanese free agent has caused both the Padres and Dodgers to de-commit from several Latin American players.
A h/t to @NationalsSource for his great ongoing analysis of the Nats signing class. Once this 2025 class is official, expect that NationalsSource will start naming names and giving analysis on the 2026 class. A great follow on social media, and he comments here often on TalkNats. Many thanks to his efforts as they should not go unnoticed.
As mentioned, the Nats moved away from what they had done in the past with spending most of their money on one top player, like they did with Yasel Antuna, Armando Cruz, and Cristhian Vaquero in prior international signing periods. That strategy leaves little room in spending on other players. For instance, the Nats paid Vaquero a total of $4.925 million, Cruz at $3.9 million, and Antuna got $3.85 million back in 2016. In contrast, Hurtado and Feliz signed for a combined $4.5 million. It is expected that Cortesia and Hernandez will sign for $2 million and $1.1 million respectively for a combined $3.1 million.
— Rodriguez said on Wednesday
“What separates [Hernandez] is makeup, but what really separates him is his bat. We really believe highly in this bat. … And at the end of the day, if you’re going to make that type of conversion to that type of position, you’ve got to have makeup. You’ve got to love the position and have some leadership skills, and we believe Daniel Hernandez has that.”
Some teams have shown better results going with more top players, and a reminder that Juan Soto was the 22nd ranked player in his signing class back in 2015. If you think it is tough to sign 21 year old college players, the IFA process has you scouting players while they are in Middle School and committing to them at 15 years old. International players are officially eligible to sign with MLB teams when they are at least the age of 16, and must be born between Sept. 1, 2006, and Aug. 31, 2007 for this class.
Two years ago, the Nats signed three Top-50 IFA’s per MLB Pipeline in that class with SS Manuel Cabrera ($500,000 signing bonus) and ranked №39 on the International Prospect list, OF Andy Acevedo ($1,200,000 signing bonus) and ranked №45, and SS Edwin Solano ($1,200,000 signing bonus) and the №46 ranked prospect. Where are they now? This is part of the hit-and-miss on these international free agents.
In 2022, the Nats signed the №2 IFA in that class as they inked the 17-year-old Cuban outfielder, Vaquero, to that team-record $4.925 million signing bonus. Known as The Phenomenon, Vaquero has not exactly lit it up in A-ball.
Two years ago, the Nats had to pivot in strategy because of their top prospect, Anthony Gutierrez, reclassified to the previous year, and signed with the Texas Rangers. Not having the available pool money to sign him in 2022, the Nats pivoted to signing more mid-level prospects than ever before in this IFA class.
As you saw in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) play two years ago, that was a weak team that hit rock bottom. The architect behind it all, Johnny DiPuglia, had a parting of ways with the team after the 2023 season per general manager Mike Rizzo as it was reported that DiPuglia resigned, and Rizzo made sure in a radio interview to let it be known that it was a mutual decision.
After DiPuglia’s departure, the Nats named Fausto Severino as their Director of International Operations. Severino joined the Nats in 2009 as an administrator in their Dominican Academy. After the 2024 season ended, Rizzo continued with his overhaul of his international operations and Severino’s contract was not renewed, and he was replaced internally by Victor Rodriguez who has been in the Nats system since 2023. Rodriguez had been a scout for the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays since 2009 until he was hired by the Nationals in 2023. Over the past several months, Rodriguez has set up his own staff of scouts. His philosophies start with the hit tool for position players and being able to throw strikes for pitchers.
“The main thing is to try to acquire the best guys as possible to add as much depth to our whole organization.”
— Rodriguez said
“Hitters stick out. [Pitchers] who throw strikes. … One thing that always sticks out is a hitter who hits and a pitcher that throws strikes are actually [the keys] to have success in the big leagues.”
“The theme of all the guys we acquired for the most part is the hit tool. That’s the hardest thing to find — the hardest thing to do. Thise are the guys we’re going to try to add to the organization. That’s the №1 tool that drives value here.”
“Hitting is the hardest thing to do in sports. I believe it’s something you’re born with. You can project components and work with athletes to try to make them some way [more] competitive — but the Luis Arraez and Juan Sotos are guys that hit from the day they were born. … The hit tool is the most important thing.”
Since Soto and Victor Robles were signed, the international market for the Nats have mostly been a lot of money wasted. Of the home-grown talent, it’s just Luis García Jr. and Jose A. Ferrer as the two projectable players on the Opening Day roster. In the farm system, only Andry Lara is the other 40-man player as a home-grown player. Joan Adon was just DFA’d, and that has been the path for too many of the players the past 9 signing periods.
This new class of prospects will all be part of the Nats’ Dominican Academy and should all be participating in the DSL this summer.
UPDATED: Here are the 14-players signed to international free agent contracts:
- SS Rony Bello
- C Edgardo Figueroa
- SS Marconi German
- RHP Juan Lopez
- C Daniel Hernandez
- SS Adrian Tusen
- RHP Manuel Ruiz
- LHP Hernan Mejia
- SS Esnaider Vargas
- RHP Jesus Carrasco
- RHP Jhondel Salas
- C Junior Castillo
- SS Brayan Cortesia
- OF Jonierbis Garces
