Athletics 2025 International Signings Review

Top Of The Class

The A’s signed 18-year-old shortstop/righthander Shotaro Morii for $1,510,500, marking a rare instance of a Japanese high school prospect who signed with a major league team out of high school instead of staying in Japan. Morii is currently in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League, where he has yet to pitch and has mostly been a DH to take it easy with his arm with a little bit of time at shortstop.

Morii is 6 feet, 190 pounds with a simple lefthanded swing. He strides open but has good hand-eye coordination and bat speed to square up quality velocity. He’s still making adjustments to better breaking stuff in pro ball than he has seen before, but he generally has a good sense of the strike zone. Early in the ACL season, Morii has mostly been a singles hitter, but he has stung the ball with exit velocities up to 110 mph coming into the season.

He’s an average runner and a good athlete who should get a chance to stick at shortstop, though doing that as a two-way player would be challenging. He’s not the typical quick-twitch mover some teams prefer at shortstop, but he has fluid actions, slows the game down and has a plus arm. On the mound, Morii has a fastball up to 94 mph as an athletic righthander who will need to sharpen his control. He has shown feel for both his slider and splitter, sprinkling in an occasional curveball to give hitters a different look. 

Shortstop Ayden Johnson signed with the A’s for $1.5 million, the top bonus this year for a player from the Bahamas. His brother, Paris Johnson, was an outfielder the Dodgers signed in 2022 who spent two years in the DSL before getting released last year. Ayden is 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, standing out for his present strength and bat speed. Johnson can be susceptible to swing-and-miss against breaking stuff, with a likely power-over-hit profile, but he can hammer fastballs and has the look of a player who should grow into plus raw power.

Johnson’s power potential stands out the most, with a lot of scouts expecting him to shift over to third base. He’s not the smoothest, natural defender at shortstop, but his hands and footwork have improved enough to give him a chance to start his career at shortstop. His above-average arm would fit anywhere on the infield, with some scouts intrigued by the possibility of him developing into a power-hitting second baseman. 

The A’s signed 17-year-old Venezuelan outfielder Breyson Guedez for $1.5 million. He played for Venezuela in multiple international tournaments, including the U-18 World Cup in 2023 when he was 15 and the year before that in the U-15 World Cup in Mexico. Guedez is a lefthanded outfielder at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds with excellent contact skills. It’s an aggressive approach prone to swinging at pitches outside the strike zone, but he has the hand-eye coordination with a compact swing to put the ball in play at a high clip regardless of where the ball is pitched. Developing better plate discipline will be important for Guedez, who has great barrel accuracy but isn’t that big and doesn’t project to be much of a power threat. That creates a bit of a tweener profile as a center fielder for now with average speed who could end up in a corner.

Names To Know

Darwing Ozuna, OF, Dominican Republic: Ozuna signed for $850,000, but he’s just making his way back now from surgery to repair a broken hamate bone in his left hand. At 17, Ozuna is a 6-foot-3, 190 pounds with broad shoulders, a high waist and the look of a player who should be a large, physical slugger. It’s a power-over-hit frame with a righthanded stroke that can leave him susceptible to swing and miss, but scouts highest on Ozuna liked his ability to keep his hands inside the ball well for a long-limbed hitter. He has the strength, bat speed and leverage to be drive the ball with impact now and grow into plus or potentially plus-plus raw power. He’s not a great runner, so he’s a corner outfielder who will probably continue to slow down as he fills out, with a 70 arm on the 20-80 scouting scale that would fit in right field. 

Yorvit Diaz, SS, Dominican Republic: Diaz is the nephew of former major league reliever Jumbo Diaz, who pitched in the big leagues from 2014-17, mostly with the Reds. He signed for $500,000 as a 17-year-old righthanded hitter with plus speed and an aggressive swing at 6 feet, 185 pounds. Scouts highest on Diaz liked his offensive upside with ability to make hard contact and recognize pitches. He drew praise for his game acumen coming from a baseball family with a chance to be an offensive-oriented shortstop, though he could move around the infield. 

Yordan Rodriguez, RHP, Cuba: Rodriguez is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound righthander who signed with the A’s for $400,000. In Cuba’s 15U national league in 2023, Rodriguez posted a 2.66 ERA with a league-leading 58 strikeouts and 27 walks in 47.1 innings. Rodriguez, 17, came into the year with a fastball up to 92 mph and has since cranked his velocity up to 95. It’s a strong build for his age and he generates his velocity from an easy, low-effort delivery. With feel to manipulate both his curveball and changeup and his pitchability from experience in Cuba, Rodriguez has starter traits. 

Ricardo Reyes, RHP, Dominican Republic: Reyes, who just turned 17 in May, has been an up-arrow pitcher since signing with the A’s for $250,000. He has long limbs on a wiry 6-foot-2, 175-pound build that he’s added strength to and seen his velocity spike from touching 91 mph when he signed to now reach 95. With a short arm stroke in a crossfire delivery, Reyes has feel to spin a curveball with tight rotation that’s ahead of his changeup. 

Aiverson Barazarte, C, Venezuela: Barazarte stood out for his defense when the A’s signed him for $220,000. He’s 6-foot-1, 180 pounds and a quick, athletic mover behind the plate. Barazarte has good footwork, soft hands and a quick exchange to a plus arm, an advanced defensive skill set for a 17-year-old with a chance to be a plus defender. It’s glove over bat, but Barazarte has shown a patient offensive approach with occasional over-the-fence power from the right side of the plate. 

Ricardo Osorio, RHP, Venezuela: Rosario, 17, is a big, physical pitcher with a power arm who signed for $200,000. Osorio signed listed at 6-foot-4, 185 pounds but has added weight and velocity to his broad-shouldered frame, reaching 95 mph. Osorio throws hard but generates that power from a slow, steady delivery and gets steep downhill plane from his high slot. His fastball pairs well with his hard, sharp curveball that’s his best secondary pitch ahead of his changeup. 

Carlos Salmeron, OF, Venezuela: The A’s signed Salmeron, 17, for $200,000. He’s 6 feet, 165 pounds with good defensive instincts for his age and could see time in center field, though with average speed he probably heads for a corner long term. There’s some sneaky pop despite his slender frame but he’s more of a line-drive hitter from the right side of the plate. 

Sleeper Watch

One other arm to watch for the A’s from this class is Edwin Mendoza, a righthander from Venezuela who signed for $125,000. He’s 6-foot-3, 195 pounds at 17 and was pitching at 86-89 mph a year ago, was up to 92 mph by the end of 2024 and is now reaching 94 mph as he’s started to layer more strength on to what was a skinny frame. There’s still projection for more velocity in the tank for Mendoza, who generates that velocity with easy arm action. He has flashed feel to spin a breaking ball as well.