Today is the first day of the 2026 international signing period in Major League Baseball. Under the current rules, teams are given a bonus pool amount of money that they are allowed to spend on amateur players that that can not exceed. Teams are allowed to trade pool values and they are allowed to acquire up to 60% more of their original bonus pool amount. The Cincinnati Reds bonus pool is currently $7,357,100. That is in the second tier of pool allotment this year, and a little bit less than their pool was last year when they were in the highest tier. Signings made for $10,000 or lower do not count towards a team’s bonus pool.
This year the top signing by the Cincinnati Reds is outfielder Angel Nunez from the Dominican Republic. He is rated as the #6 prospect in the signing class by MLB Pipeline and is expected to receive the 6th highest signing bonus in the class according to reporting by Baseball America as he got $3,000,000.
The 16-year-old outfielder is a potential 5-tool player if things go right for him. He already has plus speed and an above-average arm. Both of those things seem to play well in center where he shouldn’t have any issues remaining long term. When it comes to what he can do with the bat, Nunez projects to hit for both average and some power in the future. He’s already shown a willingness and ability to hit the ball to all parts of the field. The limited power he does have now is to his pull side, but as he fills out his 5′ 10″ and 165 lb. frame in the future he’s expected to have average power. As a center fielder with average power it would actually be above-average power for the position overall. The left-handed hitter has shown a good approach and pitch recognition for his age and has performed well at the international level while playing for the Dominican Republic national team.
Nunez was not the only player that the Reds signed today that got a 7-figure bonus. Venezuelan-born shortstop Carlos Hernandez signed for $1,000,000 according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. He was the #51 player on the Baseball America bonus board. Expected to be able to remain at shortstop long term thanks to good hands, a solid glove and arm, Hernandez also has a chance to hit a little bit. He’s expected to be a high contact hitter with a chance to hit for a good average. At 6′ 1″ and 160 lbs. he could have solid power in the future if he’s able to fill out his frame and add some more muscle.
While those two are the only 7-figure signings for Cincinnati, they added one more over the $500,000 mark in catcher Diego Pacheco who got a reported $700,000 bonus. MLB Pipeline has him at the #50 spot on their list. An athletic catcher with a strong arm, he’s shown an improvement behind the plate over the last year as he’s gotten more experience and reps at the position. The right-handed hitter has a chance to hit for both average and power in the future. As it goes with most 16-year-old catchers, he’s going to have to continue to put in the work and develop more skills behind the plate but he does have a chance to remain at the position long term.
As more information comes in today this will be updated. Another note worth mentioning is that player signing bonuses – unless noted by another publication – will not be listed here. While I typically do get that information, in the last decade or so there have been incidents where players and their families have become targets for criminals and thus keeping that information out of the public view has become a bit more of a policy.
As it’s gone in past years, I will do my best to get scouting reports/information on all of the players that are signed this week. That usually does not happen immediately – last year I was able to get stuff for everyone that signed in the first day written up and published on the following day. I am hoping to have information on everyone that’s signed tomorrow and will get it published as quickly as I can – but again, I’m limited on sources for this stuff and am at the mercy of the schedules of a few people who are working through what is their busiest few days of the year.
One further note is that those who support the site through Patreon will get the scouting reports on all of the signings first. The delay in publication on the site won’t be too long, but early access is one of the benefits for supporting the site and keeping it going. For a few bucks a month you can sign up. I’ve never raised the price – it’s been $4 a month since I started what was then called the scouting database back in 2012 – and I don’t have any plans on raising that price.
Here is the current list of players that are known to have signed:
Eliezer Arias – SS – Dominican RepublicDaniel Burgos – RHP – VenezuelaJose Colina – OF – VenezuelaAlexander Cuello – SS – Dominican RepublicLuis Delgado – RHP – Dominican RepublicRonny Felix – OF – Dominican RepublicCarlos Goncalves – C – VenezuelaEider Gutierrez – OF – VenezuelaCarlos Hernandez – SS – VenezuelaGilventon Josephina – OF – CuracaoNishentel Meyers – IF – ArubaXander Nolasco – C – Dominican RepublicAngel Nunez – OF – Dominican RepublicDiego Pacheco – C – VenezuelaJuandy Romero – SS – Dominican RepublicJose Saldana – RHP – Panama
Updated at 2:57pm on January 15
This group has signed for a combined $5,760,000 with several bonuses from the above group unknown. That leaves the Cincinnati Reds with $1,597,100 remaining in their pool for the unknown bonuses and potential future signings. They could always add more by trading for additional pool money. They could also trade away from of that, which is something that they have done in the past. This also doesn’t factor in players who will sign for $10,000 or less, which will not count towards the pool.