Dodgers sign 29 players in IFA class, including that Roki Sasaki guy, and trade 2 prospects for bonus pool money

Samuel Savinon, Cesar Sanchez, Antoni Urena, Hendry Arvelo, Aneudy Almonte, Shai Romero (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)

The Dodgers announced Monday that they agreed to terms with 29 international amateurs to kick off their 2025 international free agency class. Seven of them agreed to terms before the end of the 2024 class, allowing the team to take their bonuses out of the leftover pool money from last year.

The 2025 group includes Roki Sasaki, the only signee who is featured in MLB Pipeline’s ranking of the Top 50 players in the class. Among the 29 total signees, 16 are pitchers, four are catchers, six are infielders and three are outfielders. There are 12 signees out of Venezuela, eight out of the Dominican Republic, four out of Mexico, two out of Colombia and one each out of Japan, Panama and South Sudan.

The full list of signed players and those with bonuses reported by Francys Romero is as follows:

FULL NAMEPOSCOUNTRYBONUS
Acacio, MoisesIFVenezuela
Almonte, AneudyLHPDominican Republic$50,000
Aparicio, EzequielCVenezuela
Aquino, DerikRHPDominican Republic
Arvelo, HendrySSDominican Republic
Bautista, DevlynOFDominican Republic
Diaz, DegersonCFVenezuela
Gamez, LuisRHPMexico
Gil, JhonCVenezuela
Lara, BryanRHPMexico
Luna, AndresRHPMexico
Luna, LuisSSColombia$140,000
Macero, JuanIFVenezuela
Pacheco, IvanRHPMexico
Ramirez, CarlosRHPVenezuela
Rangel, MoisesCVenezuela
Reyes, AlexisRHPVenezuela
Rivas, JoseCVenezuela
Roman, RicardoRHPVenezuela
Romero, ShaiRHPDominican Republic$200,000
Sanchez, CesarRHPDominican Republic
Sasaki, RokiRHPJapan$6,500,00
Savinon, SamuelRHPDominican Republic$225,000
Theran, JhosmanCFColombia$45,000
Thon, Joseph DengRHPSouth Sudan
Torres, AdrianLHPPanama$365K (+$100K)
Tovar, LuisIFVenezuela
Ureña, AntoniSSDominican Republic
Villegas, JoseRHPVenezuela

Torres is a highly regarded southpaw that seemingly got a large chunk of the leftover bonus money after Sasaki’s deal. According to reports, the freshly turned 17-year-old already runs his fastball into the mid-90s and has good spin on his secondary pitches. He is listed at 6-foot-3, 180 pounds.

Thon, a tall right-hander, is the first player in MLB history to be signed out of South Sudan. Reports indicate that he has reached up to 95 mph on his fastball. He is listed at 6-foot-6, 185 pounds.

Lara is a Mexican right-hander who sits in the 90-92 mph range with “good physique” alongside above-average command and secondary pitches, according to Dodgers scout Juvenal Soto in an article for MiLB. The article notes that Lara is the first Guanajuato native to sign with an MLB team.

Luna is a Colombian infielder who has the versatility the team desires, as well as some wheels.

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Some more pictures of the signees:

Carlos Ramirez (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)
Alexis Reyes (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)
Supervisor Andres Simancas, Luis Tovar (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)
Moises Acacio (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)
Luis Luna (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)
Andres Luna (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)
Supervisor Carlos Gonzalez, Adrian Torres, Vice President Ismael Cruz (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)
Jhosman Theran (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)
Joseph Deng Thon (Via Los Angeles Dodgers)

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Most of the bonus pool money for this period went to Sasaki, who signed for a $6.5 million bonus. According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Dodgers entered the period with just $5,146,200 in their bonus pool, meaning they had to trade for more money to sign Sasaki and anyone else. The Dodgers dealt away two prospects to increase their bonus pool: outfielders Dylan Campbell and Arnaldo Lantigua.

The Dodgers traded Campbell to the Phillies for bonus pool money reportedly in the range of $750,000 to $1 million. A fourth round pick out of Texas in 2023, Campbell would have placed just a bit outside the top 30 on my preseason top Dodgers prospects list. He is very athletic with good versatility as the outfield is his regular spot, but the 22-year-old also has some experience at second base. The former standout high school running back stole 42 bases last year and totaled 32 extra-base hits.

As for Lantigua, the Dodgers sent him to the Reds for a reported $1.5 million addition to their bonus pool. He was one of the rising teenagers in the system and was set to move stateside in 2025. The 19-year-old posted a 1.005 OPS while earning an All-Star nod in the Dominican Summer League last year. He has big power potential and an intriguing ceiling, although he will likely be relegated to an outfield corner defensively. Lantigua would have fallen in the 20-30 range on my preseason top Dodgers prospects list.

About Bruce Kuntz

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I'm a Long Beach State journalism student and I've been writing about the Dodgers and their farm system since I was in high school.