How Red Sox Exec Views Top Signing From Amateur International Class

Monday was the first day the Red Sox could sign international amateur baseball players.

It’s a look into the future for the organization — the very distant future.

According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, the Red Sox are expected to sign 45 players Monday, many of whom are still just teenagers. Dominican Republic native Vladimir Asencio, who turned 17 last month, highlights the large class.

The right-handed-hitting and throwing Asencio plays center field and is touted as a strong defender and solid contact hitter. Speier noted that Asencio has drawn comparisons to a former Red Sox prospect in Manuel Margot, who has enjoyed an eight-year Major League Baseball career to this point with the San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays after coming up through the Red Sox farm system.

Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero, who signed Asencio, had a glowing review of the tools Asencio possesses.

“We love him in center field,” Romero told Speier. “Offensively, he’s more contact over power, but has a really, really advanced approach for his age. We love the fact that he tends to spray line drives using all quadrants of the zone. He’s got a good eye. Overall, it’s kind of a mature, advanced approach with knowledge of the strike zone at a premium position.”

Asencio isn’t the only signing Romero is high on. The Red Sox are set to sign Venezuelan third baseman Carlos Carrasquel, who stands at 6-foot-2 and nearly 185 pounds and carries a big bat.

“It’s easy power,” Romero told Speier.

Another noteworthy signing for the Red Sox comes in the form of 17-year-old right-handed pitcher Dalvinson Reyes. Speier wrote that Reyes has a three-pitch mix, featuring a fastball that currently tops out at 93 mph along with a slider and effective changeup.

Reyes’ arsenal along with a frame that already measures around 6-foot-5 and 180 pounds, has the Red Sox feeling good about his potential.

“He’s got every physical element that you would want,” Romero told Speier. “He’s just someone that we don’t see often in the Dominican in terms of the components of possibly being a front-of-the-rotation kind of guy.

“He has quality arm action, a smooth delivery, without a lot of effort. There’s already some power to his repertoire. And we love the fact that for a guy that has this size at this age, he’s got good command.”