Last week, Francys Romero, a baseball writer for MLB, broke the news that the Cubs had signed Cuban pitcher Brander Guevera as an international free agent. A well built kid, the now 20-year-old left Cuba five years ago before signing with the Cubs. This news broke about a week after it was reported the Cubs had about $500,000 Bonus Pool money left to spend in International Free Agency.

Yesterday, Romero announced that the Cubs had signed 3 additional players, all from Cuba. They are RHP Darián Rivero (17) from Mayabeque, OF Alexeis Lumpuy (18) from Habana, and SS Eriandys Ramón (18) from Matanzas.

Here are some quotes from Romero’s article about the talents of each player.

Rivero

Rivero is a young pitcher from Mayabeque who had international experience in the Under-15 category. He stands out for his pitching mechanics and reaches 90 miles with material to further expand his repertoire. He was the most outstanding pitcher of his province in the National 15-16 of 2019-2020. He received his free agency from him in August 2022.

The Cubs have not been signing many younger pitchers in the international market. Instead, the Cubs have preferred more “late bloomers” who have physically matured and are 18 or 19. So, this is an interesting investment in such a young pitcher.

Lumpuy

In the case of Lumpuy, an outfielder from Havana, he is an athletic player with the potential to be an excellent contact hitter and base stealer. He has an excellent arm as well and was in Cuba’s baseball system. He participated in the Under-18 National Championship with Havana in 2022. There he acted as a center fielder and starter with a .279 average, 17 hits and 4 stolen bases. He received his free agency from him in January of this year.

The Cubs success rate in the DSL with outfielders has usually been pretty good. It will be interesting to see if he develops any power the next 2 to 3 seasons.

Ramon

Ramón is from Matanzas and was in the 2018 U-15 World Cup with Cuba. Several players from that group have already begun their careers in the Minor League system. The Cubs see in Ramón an excellent shortstop, with the potential to advance in a career to the Major Leagues. He hits left-handed, has power and acceleration in his swing and an above-average arm.

You can never have enough shortstops as they are the most gifted athletes on the team and can move where needed easily. The fact that Ramon is left-handed doesn’t hurt either.

With the DSL a week into the season, this looks like it could be the last of the IFA signings until the season ends, unless there are a rash of injuries.