Fernand Cruz – Pic via his Instagram

Starting around 8 AM central time, the 2024 international free agent signing will begin. It will run through the middle of December of this year, but all of the major signings will take place today. 

The Cubs are slated to sign shortstop Fernando Cruz to a bonus somewhere close to $4 million. Cruz is one of the top ranked players in this year‘s class and is also the cousin of former Cub shortstop Starlin Castro, but Cruz is his own player and has been lauded for his ability to go the other way, as well as having outstanding bat control with his forearms and wrists. He also has an above average arm. It’ll be interesting to see the exact amount that he signed for today.

While some of you may want a comp today or a ranking, that’s going to be extremely hard to do as he has yet to play in a game that matters. Those rankings and evaluations will come later, but I would not be surprised to see him anywhere from a top 20 prospect this summer or, if things go well, a top 10 in the fall/offseason. 

In early March, we should have a couple of things happen in order to get a better fix on Cruz’s talents, and possibilities. One way for us to do that is if he is in minor league spring training in Mesa. That would mean that he’s not going to play in the Dominican this summer and will debut in the Arizona Complex League in early June.

Before that, MLB pipeline is going to release their top 30 Cubs list in early March. We should get to see a little preview of what others think of him before we actually get to see him ourselves.

The Cubs are also slated to sign outfielder Robin Ortiz from the Dominican today. The adjective that keeps coming up on him is power, and that applies to both his bat and arm. We shall see if he signs this morning.

The only other name I’ve seen besides Ortiz and Cruz is pitcher Yander Maria, who throws right-handed. And that’s all we know about Maria as I haven’t gotten any info from where he’s from. I would assume he’s from the Dominican.

I will be back at 8 AM when the Cruz news is made official. And then I’ll be reporting off and on throughout the day. See you then!

8 AM

The Cubs got busy early signing the following players per Baseball America:

Fernando Cruz, SS, Dominican Republic
Robin Ortiz, OF, Dominican Republic
Yander Maria, RHP, Dominican Republic
Diego Gonzalez, C, Venezuela
Frailin Alejo, RHP, Dominican Republic
Juan Monzo, SS, Dominican Republic

The Cubs have $5.152,200 in their pool.

Yander Maria getting some pub over at BA, too.

8:30 AM

My favorite part of IFA Day is seeing the pics roll in from the academies of the players. It is a life changing day for most.

Eventually, the Cubs will release a list of signees with a brief bio. That could come today, tomorrow, or even later. You never know.

From the looks of it, MLB Pipeline looks to be dropping a “team article” for each organization. That could be interesting. I will keep an eye out on that.

9 AM

Best part of the article:

Cruz sports a tantalizing set of tools that brim with upside. Known as a hitter capable of spraying the ball to all fields because of his tremendously strong hands and forearms, Cruz has enough strength in his swing to enable him to hit the ball to right field as if he were a left-handed batter. With an easy load and superb bat speed, his sound offensive approach will lend itself to 20-to-25 homer power as he matures. Despite being known as an aggressive swinger, he has an advanced feel for the barrel.

9:30 – As for Maria

Got some screenshots from the video. Lot to like in that video. Nice live arm, good movement, projectable body.

I also got some video of Ortiz popping one off on YouTube

Also got some pics of new pitcher Frailin Alejo via his Instagram.

11 AM

There is not a lot happening right now. As usual, this day tends to run in spurts. We get some names, go find some pics and video, and then do it again.

Right now would be a good time to reflect on the 6 person (so far) class.

I must say that Fernando Cruz is the star of the class, but Maria is the star of the day. I am impressed so far with his projectability along with his frame and the looseness of his delivery. It does not look max effort at all.

As most of you know, the signing period runs through the middle of December. The Cubs normally add a lot of names in May and then again in November and December. If you want to, you can bookmark our IFA database to keep up with the signings.

What is nice about the signing period being in January if we only have to wait five months for this class to debut. Under the old system, we had to wait 11 months. Ugh!

Most of these players will begin in the Dominican Summer League. I would not be surprised to see someone make it to Mesa at some point this year. Remember, two years ago, Alfredo Zarraga debuted at Myrtle Beach. You never know.

I will be back after a while, hopefully with some signing pics!

1 PM

No pics from the academy just yet…except one.

4 PM

Cubs signed four more this afternoon!

Ezequiel Peña, SS, Dominican Republic
Enyel Rosario, SS, Dominican Republic
Edgardo de Leon, SS, Dominican Republic
Julian Duran, RHP, Dominican Republic

Time to go get some info!

6:30 PM

OF Cesar Lugo, VZ
OF Jesus Rodriguez, VZ
2B Isaac Moscote – Colombia

I think I am done for the day