Wasting no time in making a splash in the international free agency market, the Royals have signed Elier Hernandez, deemed by Baseball America to be the top international prospect eligible for signing this summer (Edit: I have to admit that I misread what that list was exactly. It was a ranking of who they expected to get the highest signing bonuses in the signing period. While a ranking system of Latin American prospects may closely resemble a list of those expected to get the largest signing bonuses, the two are obviously not the same thing. My bad.), to what has been reported to be a $3.05 million contract. For those who are curious, video of the newest Royal can be found at the BA link above at the link or at Clint Scholes's write-up at Pine Tar Press. This signing had been rumored for a while, as Jorge Arangure had tweeted that the signing was likely weeks ago, but Royals fans do not take anything for granted.
The Dominican outfielder's contract falls just $100,000 short of tying the largest Latin American signing for a hitter, coming close to the deal that the Twins handed Miguel Sano in the fall of 2009. If money is any sort of indicator, Elier Hernandez is a special prospect.
Clearly, Dayton Moore got to use some of that Gil Meche money today.
On a day where Mike Montgomery had a nice rebound start in AAA, this brings more glad tidings, as the Royals have added a raw bat with a projectable body type and quick wrists to their stable of young studs highly touted prospects. Anyone worried about all of the talent in the system regressing in the minors or graduating to the Majors and leaving a black hole in its stead can rest a little easier tonight.
Well, we still don't sleep well. Royals fandom doesn't allow for that.