A’s land a top outfielder in international period
A highly regarded Dominican outfielder, Pedro Pineda, led a group of 12 teenage prospects with whom the A’s agreed to terms as the international signing period began Friday.
Pineda, 17, was rated as the No. 13 prospect in this year’s international class by MLB Pipeline. The A’s held him in higher estimation, said assistant general manager Dan Feinstein.
“He’s a true fivetool player who we had pegged early on in this process as the premier player in the class,” Feinstein said on a video call Friday. “He’s big, strong, physical with speed and power, plays a really good center field. He’s got a rifle for an arm. It’s fun to watch him play baseball.”
Baseball America described Pineda as “a strong, athletic, physical center fielder” who “has excellent speed, a fast bat and the power potential to hit 25plus home runs.”
Details of Pineda’s deal weren’t immediately known. The A’s had an international bonus pool of $5,348,100 for this signing period. Feinstein said the A’s used “a good portion of our pool” with Friday’s signings.
In 2019, the A’s used nearly their entire bonus pool on Robert Puason, a switchhitting shortstop from the Dominican Republic. Puason, 18, spent this past season working at the A’s alternate site in San Jose and is one of their top prospects.
The A’s landed four shortstops Friday — Dayker Baldallo, Ray Garrett and Anderson Machado of Venezuela and Germán Ortiz of the Dominican Republic. Nine of their signees were Venezuelan, including righthanded pitchers Moisés Hernández, Jesús Perdigón and Jimmy Rojas, catcher Javier Pariguán and outfielders Ángel Arévalo and Beyker Martinez.
The A’s also signed Brazilian lefthander Sulivan Ribeiro de Almeida, just the second player from Brazil they’ve added since 2000.
Feinstein said he doesn’t like comparing prospects to known players but: “It’s hard not to see a little bit of Dontrelle Willis when you watch him pitch . ... He’s got the size, he’s got a similar delivery and he’s got some power stuff for a (17)yearold from the left side.”
This signing period, originally set to open last July, was pushed back amid the pandemic. Feinstein credited A’s scouts with keeping tabs on prospects and the players with sending videos of their progress. Some of the young players sent videos of themselves hitting in living rooms and stairwells.
“These guys did anything they could and worked out anywhere they could to make sure they were staying in shape,” Feinstein said.
Players signed Friday will likely report to the A’s academy in the Dominican Republic once it reopens, though a reopening date is not set, Feinstein said.