Dodgers sign 13 internationals
The Dodgers opened the signing period for international players, picking up shortstop Joendry Vargas, 17, and outfielder Arnaldo Lantigua, 17, from the Dominican Republic, the two headliners of the club’s 13player signing class.
Vargas, 17, was ranked as this year’s third-best international prospect by MLB Pipeline, which listed the right-handed hitter at 6 feet 3 and 170 pounds and praised his athletic frame, advanced approach at the plate and plus throwing arm.
Lantigua, 17, was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 23rd best overall player in the class, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound prospect with highly-touted power-hitting potential from the right side of the plate.
They were two of the six Dominican players the Dodgers signed Sunday. The others include shortstops Daniel Mielcarek and Elias Medina, and right-handed pitchers Anderson Jerez and Erick Batista. The Dodgers also signed seven players from Venezuela: righthanded pitchers Jesus Tillero, Samuel Sanchez, Robinson Ventura and Luis Carias; as well as catcher Eduardo Quintero and shortstops Harold Gonzalez and Javier Herrera.
— Jack Harris
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