The 2025 international signing period opened on Wednesday, and the Tigers quickly locked up their top target. Dominican outfielder Cris Rodriguez agreed to a signing bonus of $3.2 million. He is the highest ranked international free agent prospect in Tigers’ history.
Rodriguez is a 6-foot-4, 200 pound outfielder and while he already has some of the best batspeed and raw power in this signing class, he also has the frame to add plenty of good muscle as he fills out. He should eventually have double plus power. Rodriguez is also a plus runner who may be able to stick at the center field position. If he loses a little speed as he adds muscle he may move to a corner spot, and he does have a solid throwing arm as well and may slot into right field.
MLB Pipeline ranks Rodriguez as the fourth best international prospect in baseball. They expect double plus power and grade him as the top ranked power hitter in the this class. He gets an average grade on his hit tool, with an overall 60 FV grade. That would put the 16-year-old among the top 10-15 prospects in the game. We’ll be more interested in those grades once Rodriguez has faced some pro pitching, but this is a strong collection of tools already. You can find Pipeline’s full report on him here.
The Tigers also signed Venezuelan prospect Jose Ramirez, who offers a strong blend of tools and has played both catcher and center field. We’ll see if the Tigers decide to develop him at both positions. Ramirez has a strong arm, above average speed, and is just a very good all around athlete. He hits right-handed, and while he may fall a little short of average power, he’s performed well at the plate and appears to have solid discipline and good contact ability for his age.
Fellow Venezuelan Carlos Benavides is more of a true catcher, with advanced actions, good footwork, and a strong throwing arm. Benavides hits right-handed, and at this point is still a free swinger with good contact ability. He’ll have to develop his power and plate discipline in pro ball.
The Tigers have also signed Dominican infielders Angel De Los Santos and Sterling Bazil. Terms for these signings, other than Rodriguez, haven’t been reported yet.
Entering this signing period, the Tigers had one of the top bonus pools to spend at $7,555,500, so while Rodriguez was pricey, there will be plenty more signings to come.
We’ll continue to update this article as further signings for the Tigers are reported.