The Chicago White Sox are not going to end up being the team Roki Sasaki signs with. To no one's surprise, the top international free agent eliminated the Sox from consideration early in the process.
That does not mean the Pale Hose did not benefit from other teams going after the Japanese pitching sensation.
The Sox getting a highly regarded international prospect originally committed to the Dodgers is one of three things the club got right with their 2025 international free-agent prospect additions.
The class is headlined by Cuban third-baseman Alejandro Cruz. He is the only top-50-ranked international signing the team made.
Cruz was considered the 21st-best international free agent before signing according to Latin baseball writer Francys Romero. MLB Pipeline ranked him No. 33 and Fangraphs has him at No. 42. It should not be long before he is considered to be amongst the Sox's top 30 prospects.
The #WhiteSox have a storied Cuban lineage, one they look to continue with 3B Alejandro Cruz, the No. 33 prospect in the 2025 int'l class.
— Jesse Borek (@JesseABorek) January 16, 2025
More with @scottmerkin as the signing period opens:https://t.co/NyuyuXtpP1
The other headline the Sox made was adding Venezuelan outfielder Orlando Patiño. They were able to get him after the Dodgers could no longer promise him the $400k signing bonus as the defending World Series champs are trying to save up as much of their international bonus pool money to sign Sasaki.
That left the 17-year-old outfielder, who is already built like a linebacker according to Baseball American, to re-open his recruitment (because international prospect free agency is a lot like college football and basketball recruiting). The Sox were able to win his services for $570k.
Chicago White Sox sign Venezuelan outfielder Orlando Patiño for $570,000. Was one of the players previously set to sign with the Dodgers.https://t.co/aCRAKA5LSP pic.twitter.com/Pm5dNElRvj
— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) January 15, 2025
The higher price is likely due to other teams creating a bidding war. Still, this is a player who has immense power potential, and the Sox farm system can use more power. Hopefully, he gets to the big leagues and crushes home runs for the White Sox at Rate Field.
It was nice to see the Sox take advantage of a team like the Dodgers having to give up on talent because they are chasing the best prospect available. Hey, if the Sox were not going to end up with Sasaki, at least they found a way to benefit from the rejection.
New director of international scouting David Keller's regime can also be attributed to landing
Patiño. The rest of the class is made up of commitments former director Marco Paddy and his group of scouts secured.