Los Angeles thrives in the international free agency market every year. Two of the top prospects in the system, Josue De Paula and Joendry Vargas, were signed in the last two IFA periods (De Paula in 2022 and Vargas in 2023). The Dodgers have nearly as many top names in their farm system that came IFA as they do from the draft, with Thayron Liranzo, Diego Cartaya, Yeiner Fernandez, and Hyun-Seok Jang representing a few of the top talents that have been acquired this way.
The top player that the Dodgers signed today is 17-year-old shortstop Emil Morales. Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Morales has a big frame at 6-foot-3, 180 pounds. He was projected for a bonus of $2.4MM, and is the only Dodgers signee who fell on Baseball America's top 100 projected bonus board. Power projection is perhaps the best tool in Morales' profile. He's built with wide shoulders that Fangraphs' report likens to an 'early-career Fernando Tatis Jr.' in his uniform. That gives a lot of room to fill out his frame with more muscle as he gets older and becomes a legit power threat.
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