Touted shortstop Josuar Gonzalez among Giants’ international signings
The international signing period might be a little painful for the San Francisco Giants after missing out on Japanese starter Roki Sasaki – whose landing spot remains unknown but is likely to be Los Angeles, San Diego or Toronto. Even so, the Giants came to terms with a switch-hitting shortstop, Josuar Gonzalez, who is 17 and rated one of the top position players available this year. Gonzalez, who is from the Dominican Republic, projects as a plus defender with plus-plus speed, according to Baseball America, which reported that San Francisco offered Gonzalez a $3 million signing bonus. MLB.com listed Gonzalez as the top available position player during this signing period. The Giants also agreed to a $1.1 million bonus with Djean Macares, a left-handed hitting outfielder from Aruba. Baseball America reported the bonus total. MLB ranked Macares as the 25th best player available this period.
In all, the team signed 15 players Wednesday, including eight from Venezuela: catchers Diego Alambarrio, Miguel Caraballo and Carlos Martinez; shortstops Yulian Barreto, Alexander Camacaro and Yeison Oviedo; outfielder Rainer Espinoza and right-hander Abraham Utrera; plus Colombian pitchers Jose Gonzalez and Yesid Mendoza; Dominican lefty Winkel Del Rosario; and right-handers Ebduar Loina (Panama) and Jeremiah Jones (Saint Martin).
