Cardinals add three more players to international free agent class
After a busy opening to this year's international free agent signing period, the St. Louis Cardinals continued adding talent to their minor-league system on Friday with three more signings.
The Cardinals announced that they have signed Cuban center fielder Jonatan Machado, shortstop Erik Pena and catcher Ivan Herrera to minor-league contracts during the current 2016-17 international signing period that opened on July 2.
The 17-year-old Machado is a prototypical leadoff hitter with plus speed and advanced defensive skills. Machado, a left-handed hitter, is from La Habana, Cuba and played for Cuba's Gold Medal winning team at the 2014 15U IBAF Baseball World Cup in Mazatlan, Mexico.
"Machado is a dynamic player who has the ability to affect the game in many ways," stated Cardinals Director of International Operations Moises Rodriguez. "He makes contact at a high rate and is an ignitor on offense."
The 5-foot-9, 155-pound Machado batted .336 in 137 plate appearances for La Habana's 15U youth league team in 2014, striking out in only four percent of his at-bats. The Cardinals scouted Machado during the 2014 World Cup and have continued to do so since he arrived in the Dominican Republic late last year.
Machado has been signed to a 2016 contract and will be immediately assigned to the DSL Cardinals team.
Pena, a switch-hitter from Valencia, Venezuela, and the right-handed hitting Herrera, a native of Panama City, Panama, are both 16 years old.
Machado, Pena, and Herrera join a prior group of 13 international signings that were announced by the Cardinals on July 3.
