Miguel Garcia said to the Freep<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s got a good body for his position, catcher, and the ability to develop some power down the road, having a plus arm and good defensive skills. We like his makeup, the way that he handles himself on and off the baseball field. We\u2019re pretty excited about Manuel Bolivar.\u201d<\/p>\nSS Oscar Tineo \u2014 $1,447,500<\/p>\n
Defensive shortstop Oscar Tineo earned the second-highest signing bonus from Detroit, and for good reason. He\u2019s 6-foot-2 with good range and agility, and Garcia projects him to develop a plus arm while staying at shortstop. His tools are reminiscent of Franyerber Montilla, who has come along as one of the better shortstops in Detroit\u2019s farm system. Maybe the speed tool isn\u2019t as sharp, but Baseball America\u2019s Ben Badler called Tineo \u201can above-average runner\u201d.<\/p>\n
Like Montilla, Tineo has the makings of an plus defender; however, the bat is of some concern. While he is a switch-hitter, Tineo struggles as a lefty against righties and needs to develop some pop to his swing. Montilla made the jump after going through a rough patch once arriving stateside. The Venezuela native turns 17 next month, so Detroit has some time to develop him in the DSL over the next couple of years.<\/p>\n
CF Randy Santana \u2014 $1,097,500<\/p>\n
The last of Detroit\u2019s \u201cpremier\u201d signings might have the brightest future. Randy Santana has a rocket arm, plus-power potential, good speed, and a pretty swing. This is a kid who has clocked multiple 100-mph throws from the outfield at 17 years old and comes from a proven baseball academy (Niche) from the Dominican Republic \u2014 the same academy that produced Soto and Elly De La Cruz.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a world where Santana switches to the mound, but he has a ton of bat speed, albeit with a somewhat reckless approach and coming from a smaller \u2014 5-foot-11, 180-pound \u2014 frame. The combination of speed and power could make him dangerous at the plate, particularly if he can mature as a hitter and make better swing decisions.<\/p>\n
The goal is to keep him in center field, which he has the speed for, but a transition to right field down the line wouldn\u2019t be surprising. Santana can also affect the game on the base path as a plus runner, too. In a farm full of left-handed hitting talent, Santana pairs nicely with last year\u2019s top international signing, Cris Rodriguez, as a right-handed slugger. It\u2019s hard to argue with taking a young player with a lot of atheticism and an outsized toolkit. Santana has huge upside and doesn\u2019t need to become a great pure hitter to grow into an impactful major leaguer someday.<\/p>\n
CF Douglas Olivo \u2014 $797,500<\/p>\n
If Santana doesn\u2019t work out in center field, Douglas Olivo probably will. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Venezuelan moves around the outfield with ease and reads the ball off the bat fairly well. A left-hander who can switch hit, Olivo\u2019s better at hitting for average than power. Still, he has the frame to add plenty of weight, which could lead to more pop down the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe covers a lot of ground,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cAs we all know, it takes a lot to play center field in Comerica Park, and we all strongly believe that every time we project a kid to play center field, that\u2019s what we think about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivo\u2019s signing bonus is in question. While Spotrac lists him just under $800,000, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported a $900,000 signing bonus. Either way, it\u2019s a considerable chunk compared to everyone below him on this list.<\/p>\n
IF Eduardo Tusen \u2014 $312,500<\/p>\n
The final signee who reeled in a deal above $300,000 \u2014 which is an arbitrary cutoff point but suggests that he\u2019s in the top-200 range of international prospects \u2014 is Eduardo Tusen out of the Dominican Republic. A middle infielder for now, Tusen\u2019s arm strength leads to a natural third base projection. He\u2019s a switch hitter with good bat speed from both sides of the plate, but he looks more natural in the right-handed batter\u2019s box. He\u2019s 16 going on 17 and checks in at 5-foot-11 and 194 pounds.<\/p>\n
The rest of Detroit\u2019s international signees are getting $275,00 or less, so we\u2019ll do this by position. Less is known about these guys and the money says it\u2019s more of a crap shoot than anything else.<\/p>\n
Signed: RHP Yeuri Ramirez (Dominican Republic), $240,000; RHP Alexander Padilla (Dominican Republic), $160,000; RHP Jesus Miranda (Colombia), $35,500<\/p>\n
Yeuri Ramirez is the most interesting name here. He signed with Milwaukee in the 2025 cycle, but an alleged age falsification issue voided the $300,000 deal. He ends up with the Tigers this year and is already 18 years old. Does he need to spend a year in the DSL? Probably not, but Detroit might opt to keep him overseas for a year. Ramirez has run his fastball up to 94-95 mph and is quite polished. He likes to play with timings and has some feel for his secondary stuff.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s not much out there on Padilla or Miranda. The latter looks raw in the videos below but has been clocked in the upper-80s while showing some feel for the breaking stuff. Refining his motion could be the ticket to success.<\/p>\n
Signed: Roman Silgado (Venezuela), $65,000; Yojan Coronel (Venezuela), $40,000<\/p>\n
Two more catchers signed with Detroit, albeit for not a ton of money. Silgado shows some decent hand speed as righty and there\u2019s some plus-power potential if he can make solid contact consistently.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s not a ton out there on Coronel right now.<\/p>\n
Signed: Steve Gutierrez (Venezuela), $70,000; Edwinyer Martinez (Venezuela), N\/A<\/p>\n
Two more infielders that don\u2019t have much film. Gutierrez and Martinez are both shortstops for now. Martinez has a smaller build at 5-foot-9, 179 pounds, so moving to second might be in his future.<\/p>\n
Signed: Santiago Ventura (Venezuela), $275,000; Diego Orro (Venezuela), $100,000<\/p>\n
Ventura stands out as a plus runner with some feel in center field, according to Baseball America. He\u2019s more of a defender than a hitter, but he can find a gap or two. He\u2018s 6-foot, 175 pounds.<\/p>\n
Orro is a left-handed hitter who stands at 5-foot-11, 165 pounds. There\u2019s some film on his swing linked below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 international signing period opened a week ago (Jan. 15), and Detroit signed seven players. While prospects…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2386],"tags":[5,147,53,38501,2583,4,594],"class_list":{"0":"post-536400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-tigers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-tigers","11":"tag-detroit-tigers-prospects-minor-leagues","12":"tag-detroittigers","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-tigers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115951192400017411","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}