International players, particularly players from the Dominican Republic, have become an integral part of Major League Baseball over the past few decades. To start this season, the Dominican had 100 players on MLB Opening Day rosters, or about 13 percent of all major league players.
That was more than any other country outside of the United States — a remarkable accomplishment given that the tiny Caribbean country has a population of only about 11.6 million, or roughly 3 percent of the U.S. population.
But scouting and signing Dominican players remains a gamble for MLB clubs, with only between 3-5 percent of prospects signed in the Dominican Republic ever making it to the major league level, compared to 11-17 percent of domestically signed players, according to an ESPN report.
That is why, if an online report that appeared on Thursday is correct, the Boston Red Sox took quite a leap of faith this week when they reached a preliminary agreement to sign shortstop Rayer González with a $3.1 million bonus. The report was posted online by Wilber Sánchez of the @wilberdata account on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Red Sox had not publicly commented on the report as of late Thursday. The player’s given name has been spelled “Rayer” and “Raiyer” by different sources.
If the report proves accurate, it would stand out from the slew of international signings that happen each year, because just two years ago, González was playing for his country’s team in the World Baseball Softball Confederation U-12 Baseball World Cup.
According to WBSC rules, players in the U-12 World Cup must be 11 or 12 years old. González appeared in the 2023 edition of the annual event, held at Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium in Tainan, Taiwan. With no available record that he participated in the 2024 tournament, González appears to have been 12 years old in 2023 — which would make the shortstop only 14 years old in 2025.
International players are eligible to sign with major league clubs when they turn 16.
“This pre-agreement is just the first step in a long process, where focus and continuous development will be key to turning his potential into reality,” Sánchez wrote, in Spanish, in an Instagram post. “Boston is heavily investing in his development, and now Rayer’s challenge will be to continue refining his game, strengthening every detail and evolving into the kind of player who justifies such a historic investment.”
The U-12 World Cup consists of six-inning games played on a field with similar dimensions to an American Little League baseball diamond. The distance from home plate to the pitching rubber is set at 51 feet, as opposed to 60 feet, 6 inches for adult baseball, with 75 feet between bases rather than 90 feet. Pitchers are restricted to strict pitch count limits.
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What kind of player is the teen infielder? According to Sánchez, “his combination of skills places him among the most complete talents in his class; he’s a five-tool player with elite speed, reflected in his 6.2(-second) 60-yard dash.”
In the 2023 U-12 World Cup, González appeared in eight games, banging out 10 hits, including two home runs in 21 at-bats. He also scored eight runs and posted a 1.125 OPS, stealing four bases in four attempts. He also walked and struck out four times each.
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