Dodgers to Sign Luis Rodriguez, 4th Ranked International Prospect

Jesse Sanchez reports that the Dodgers and international free agent Luis Rodriguez have agreed to a deal.

Source: #Dodgers agree to a deal with outfielder Luis Rodriguez, #4 on @MLBPipeline’s Top 30 Int’l Prospects list. https://t.co/VkyT1PafgI

— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) July 2, 2019

MLB’s Jesse Sanchez hits us with some nice images from Rodriguez’s contract signing.

Done deal for Rodriguez. https://t.co/ba055e4lAv pic.twitter.com/F1a0ODVOhP

— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) July 2, 2019

Rodriguez is a 16 year-old Venezuelan outfield prospect, and was ranked number 4 on MLBPipeline’s top-30 international prospects list for this free agency period.

Sanchez provides some insight into Rodriguez’s approach at the plate and in the field.

Rodriguez is a pure hitter and a natural athlete. He has sound approach in the batter’s box and has shown the ability to use all fields with consistent and hard contact.

There’s a nice rhythm and balance to his swing, and although he’s primarily a line drive hitter now, there have been flashes of power, which could increase as he develops. Rodriguez is a quality defender in center field now and makes all of the plays, but it’s uncertain if that’s where he will stay. – Jesse Sanchez, MLB.

There is no word yet as to how much Rodriguez signed for. The Dodgers are known to have draft pool money in the range of $4.8M; they forfeited $500k when signing AJ Pollock this offseason.

Rodriguez comes as part of the 2018-2019 international signing period which includes inking highly regarded catching prospect Diego Cartaya out of Venezuela last season.

Ben Badler of Baseball America adds that “several scouts consider him the No. 1 player out of Venezuela this year. Badler also shared some video of Rodriguez.

 

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Here’s one of the elite international prospects to watch for 2019: Luis Rodriguez, center fielder from Venezuela ??. That’s a 15-year-old RH-hitter driving one out to right-center field with a wood bat in live BP off a pitcher throwing 92 mph, then just missing another bomb ? to the middle of the field with one that hit the fence. Well-rounded player and an advanced hitter for his age.

A post shared by Ben Badler, Baseball America (@ben.badler) on Sep 24, 2018 at 4:03pm PDT

Welcome to the Dodgers, Luis!

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