The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed right-handed pitcher Samuel Reyes, who is the younger brother of Bradenton infielder Pablo Reyes. The younger Reyes was signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic, receiving a $45,000 bonus. He is the 19th international player the Pirates have signed since the 2016-17 signing period started back on July 2nd, with the Pirates adding 18 players that first day.
Samuel Reyes is bigger than his brother, who is listed at 5’10, 155 pound, though he’s probably put on a little muscle since then and the height might be generous. The younger Reyes is 6’1″, 175 pounds, with a frame that has some room to add muscle. He is a late bloomer at 20 years old, but the scouting reports make him an interesting arm. When I inquired about him, the report I got was that “He throws gas!”, sitting 94-95 MPH. For the rest of his stuff, I had to go to another source. According to Pablo Reyes, Samuel throws a curve, slider, changeup and a split-finger fastball. The Pirates will likely have him scrap 1-2 pitches in favor of concentrating on his fastball command. He is currently pitching in the Dominican Fall Instructional League, which has two weeks left.
We have also updated the 2016 signing tracker with all 19 players now listed and signing bonuses where available. The Pirates had a small bonus pool this year due to their second best record in baseball in 2015. Between the ten players with known bonuses, the Pirates spent $910,000 of their $2,044,800 bonus pool. With nine unknown bonuses and just over $1,000,000 left in the pool, they likely have some money left to spend. There are currently players at the Dominican academy who are there as tryout players, so there may be some more signings soon (though we might not find out about them right away).
As for Jean Eusebio, who Ben Badler from Baseball America called a top target, he remains unsigned. We don’t know his potential asking price, but teams are allowed to trade to get more international bonus room, so money shouldn’t be an issue for the Pirates unless his price is unrealistic.
