Royals Sign 16-year-old Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi

Two million dollars is a heck of a birthday gift.

That’s what it took for the Royals to sign Dominican shortstop Adalberto Mondesi, the son of former big leaguer Raul Mondesi.  Although the international signing period began on July 2, Mondesi didn’t turn 16 until midnight Wednesday morning and was unable to sign.  The Royals were frontrunners to sign him after he spent time in their baseball academy in the Dominican Republic.

Mondesi is a switch hitter with a line drive swing and good speed.  As the son of Raul Mondesi, he has a strong arm, as one might expect.

Clint Scoles at PinetarPress.com has a brief look at the signing, and the Dominican Prospect League has a short scouting report, as well.

Part of the Process included increased scouting and development in Latin America, and the Royals have been especially active in the last two seasons in acquiring talent from the region, including Cuban defector Noel Arguelles (who almost threw a no-hitter the other night), rising star Cheslor Cuthbert (our #11 prospect in February and in line to be in the top three next year) and Elier Hernandez who signed earlier this month.

That doesn’t even count Yordano Ventura, Robinson Yambati, Humberto Arteaga and many more.

Perhaps my favorite part of the signing, though, was the first mention I saw of it on ESPN Deportes.  Or, rather, the translated article from ESPN Deportes.  Mondesi comes with his own nickname now – the Torpedo Boat (torpedero apparently means “Shortstop” in Spanish).

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