Baseball America gives Atlanta's incoming international free agent class high marks

Finally free of international signing restrictions, Atlanta gets a quality hitter and one of the premier pitching prospects in Latin America

Signing international free agents, which was a big part of Atlanta's roster-building strategy that brought them such stars as Ozzie Albies (Curaçao) and Ronald Acuña Jr (Venezuela), hasn't really been a thing for Atlanta the last few years. 

Blame John Coppolella - or, more accurately, MLB for making an example out of him. 

International free agency is rife with issues - trainers making deals with signing scouts to stash literal 14 year-old children away from other scouts at training academies until the MLB team can officially sign them at age 16 most notably - and MLB attempted to curb the practice by making an example out of Atlanta.

Back in 2017, MLB came down HARD on former Braves GM John Coppolella and the organization for violating international signing rules by voiding the contracts of 12 international prospects, imposing severe signing restrictions on Atlanta through the 2021 signing period, and banning Coppolella from baseball for life. We've seen the negative impact of the loss of international signees on the depth in the minor league system, with Atlanta consistently having a bottom five farm system from most of the prospect apparatus as far as quality of players as well as the winning percentage of the teams in the lower minors. 

But,those days are finally past and Atlanta's able to fully participate in international free agency again. Last year's top signing, SS Ambioris Tavarez, is off to a slow start at Low-A Augusta (.182/.292/.265 in 35 games) but he's the best defensive shortstop and best infield arm in the system that is working on refining his offensive tools to fully tap into his potential. 

Atlanta's added to last year's group with a large group, more than twenty players, that will be debuting in the Dominican Summer League in just a few weeks. 

The most important name to know is outfielder Luis Guanipa, from Venezuela. Getting $2.5M to sign, nearly half of Atlanta's international bonus pool, Baseball America ($) describes him as "explosive athleticism in a strong, compact frame (5-foot-11, 170 pounds) with an impressive mix of power and speed." He's got a lot of work to do as far as improving the arm strength as well as tapping into that power in games, but it's a promising signing for the future. 

Atlanta also brought a prominent pitcher, RHP Jeremy Reyes of Venezuela, into the organization as well. Calling him "one of the biggest risers among international pitching prospects for this year", Reyes is still newer to pitching. He was previously working out for teams at third base and right field before the strength of his arm prompted him to move to the mound. He features a mid-90s fastball that can touch 97 and a promising, but hard, breaking ball. Being newer to pitching, he's still pretty raw but has plenty of potential as he learns and gains experience. 

Read more from Baseball America about Atlanta's international signing class HERE ($).

The Dominican Summer League begins play on June 5th, and runs through August 22nd. 

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