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Pittsburgh Pirates: Exciting Start to the 2023 International Signing Period
The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a lot of success signing top International Free Agents lately. The new signing period has now opened up.
The 2022 signing period was an exciting one for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team added two of the top 15 prospects available in Yordany De Los Santos and Tony Blanco Jr. So it should come as no surprise that the team was able to land a couple of the top prospects for the 2023 International Signing Period.
In the past, the International Signing period would open up at the beginning of July. However, under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement the new date for the annual opening is January 15th. So with that, the 2023 signing period officially has opened.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed quite a few players already. This is expected across the League as many of these players have already agreed to terms with Organizations. This can be said for two of the Pittsburgh Pirates top signings.
It was reported over the last few weeks that the Pittsburgh Pirates were expected to sign pitcher Jun-Seok Shim and outfielder Raymond Mola. Well, according to reports the Bucs are set to officially sign both over the next few days. Below is the tweet from Jess Sanchez, one the best in the business in regards to International Prospect news:
Source: #Pirates agree to a deal with RHP Jun-Seok Shim, #10 on Top 50 Int’l Prospect list and OF Raymond Mola, who ranks #26. The team has not confirmed.https://t.co/A3Ar3oUdTl
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) January 15, 2023
For more information on both of them check ou the link in the tweet. In terms of rankings, Shim is the 2nd best pitching prospect in this International Class. Mola is ranked as the 12th-best outfielder available. According to John Dreker of Pirates Prospects, the Bucs have also agreed to terms with 7 players from Venezuela:
Pirates Sign Seven Players Out of Venezuela - https://t.co/W9rPfzQXX7#Pirates #PiratesProspects pic.twitter.com/gOUKFakNIH
— Pirates Prospects (@pirateprospects) January 15, 2023
The last tidbit comes from Jesse Sanchez. Sanchez just announced on Twitter that the Pittsburgh Pirates have signed a right-handed pitcher from Uganda. Apparently, he is already in the 90s with his fastball. Sanchez tweeted:
RHP David Matoma (Uganda) makes it official with the Pirates. He was signed by Tom Gillespie. @MLBPipeline pic.twitter.com/Ah46ZYrBNP
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) January 15, 2023
The 2023 International Signing Period is officially open and the Bucs are already active. It is great to see the team land a couple of the more notable prospects available. It will be interesting to see if the team lands any other big time prospects over the coming days, and potentially months.