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Pittsburgh Pirates Sign Dominican Outfielder Juan Pie; Venezuelan Outfielder Angel Basabe

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As expected, the Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 16-year-old Dominican outfielder Juan Pie this morning. The July 2nd international signing period begins today and we should expect to hear some more signings throughout the day. Pie agreed to a deal for $500,000 according to multiple sources. The Pirates have a $5.75M bonus pool to spend this year, which is more than they have had the last two signing periods combined.

We posted an article on Pie, with multiple videos, which I encourage you to check out. In that article, Pie got the following scouting report:

“Ben Badler describes Pie as a 6’2″, 170 pound, left-handed hitter, with a quick bat. Other sources have him slightly bigger at 6’3″, 175 pounds. He makes consistent contact and uses the entire field as a line drive hitter. His bat will be his carrying tool, as he’s limited to corner outfield due to average speed at best, an average arm and a below average instincts in the field. For what it’s worth, his Dominican Prospect League scouting report has him rated higher as both a runner and an outfielder. He turned 16 on April 1st.”

I’ll add that since then I have heard others describe his arm as below average, but as a 16-year-old with plenty of room to fill out, that’s something that can improve.

UPDATE: 2:00 PM: Pirates GM Neal Huntington was asked about Pie before today’s game and had this to say on the 16-year-old outfielder:

“We love the bat. On multiple looks, it was the bat that stood out. There’s a frame for growth and additional strength as we move forward, but primarily interested in the swing, the impact, how he goes about it. We liked a lot of the bat attributes.”

UPDATE: Jesse Sanchez from MLB.com is reporting that the Pirates have signed Venezuelan outfielder Angel Basabe for $450,000. The only information he gave on him is that he has been training/living in Panama, so he is someone we will get a better update on later.

We will have a signing tracker up later today and keep it updated throughout the year. This signing period runs until June 15th

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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