Padres committed to multiple players
The international amateur prospect signing period opens on Jan. 15 for 2026. The period lasts until Dec. 15. All players from outside of Canada, Puerto Rico and the US that are 16 years old before signing and are 17 before the following September are eligible. They must also be registered to take part.
Many of the top prospects make early commitments to their signing teams, some going back several years. None of them are able to make it official until Jan. 15. Many players sign immediately after eligibility begins, usually the players that have been followed by teams for years.
Each of the 30 MLB teams has a pool of money allotted to them for signing players. The teams get notified by MLB what their bonus pools will be in the spring of the previous year. If a team signs a free agent player that received a qualifying offer after the previous season, their pool is reduced by $500,000. Teams that exceeded the Competitive Balance Tax threshold lose $1 million from their pool for signing a free agent that rejected their qualifying offer. $8,034,900 is the top and $5,440,000 is the least of the pool amounts for 2026. The Padres fall into the $5,940,000 pool along with the Red Sox and Blue Jays. They lost $500,000 for signing Nick Pivetta.
Any player that signs for less than $10,000 does not count against the total pool amount. The designated amount of each team’s pool is set by MLB based on their market size and revenue as well as the CBT rules.
The players are ranked by evaluators and the top prospects can sign for whatever the interested team is willing to pay for their contract. There is no maximum amount other than each team has to stay within their pool allotment or face penalties involving both money and loss of draft picks.
There are multiple organizations and scouts evaluating the international talent and MLB has a prospect ranking listing with their minor league and draft rankings (MLB Pipeline). The top ranked prospect this year is shortstop Luis Hernandez, 17, out of Venezuela. He has already committed to the San Francisco Giants for an estimated $5 million (Beisbol FR).
Of the top 50 prospects on the MLB list, the top three seem to be consensus top picks of other evaluators but after that there are big discrepancies among evaluators.
Francys Romero of Beisbol FR has published his list of top prospects and the teams that have made agreements with those players. The San Diego Padres have three of the top 50 prospects according to his rankings. Only one of them is on the MLB list. Baseball America has also published their list of top prospects available on Jan. 15. Two of their top 50 players are committed to the Padres.
Combining the information from the three sites, here are the players ranked in the top 50 prospects that are committed to the Padres and will sign contracts on Jan. 15 or shortly thereafter. Estimated signing bonus in parentheses.
Joniel Hernandez: ($1.1 million) Ranked No. 13 on MLB Pipeline, Hernandez is 16 years old, 6-1, 175 pounds and originates from Cuba but trains in the Dominican Republic. He has the skills to possibly stick at shortstop but could convert to third base as his skill set develops. He is ranked No. 12 on Romero’s evaluation and No. 32 on Baseball America.
Diego Serna: ($1 million) Ranked No. 24 on Beisbol FR, Serna is not ranked on the current MLB page and is No. 46 on BA. The LHP out of Mexico is 16 years old, 6-3, 209 pounds and is thought to be by some scouts the best LHP on the board. He has a starter pitch mix with a slider and changeup as plus-pitches to complement his fastball. He is considered one of the more polished pitchers in the class.
Timothy Mogen: ($650,000) An outfielder out of Aruba, Mogen is 17 years old, 6-1, 165 pounds with good speed, plus-contact skills and a high baseball IQ (Beisbol FR). Romero has him ranked as the No. 49 prospect on his list.
Romero lists the following players as being committed to the Padres but not in the top 50 prospects.
RHP Jordan Perez: ($300,000) A Cuban with plus-command and a plus-slider who can throw strikes.
Catcher Marko Morua: ($70,000) Born in Hungary and will be the first Hungarian to sign with an MLB team. Descended from a Cuban grandfather who helped develop baseball in Cuba, Morua trains in the Dominican Republic and has skills that play both behind and at the plate.
CF Luis Alfredo Rodriguez ($50,000) A top defender out of the DR with plus-speed, Rodriguez needs development with his bat but was graded at a 60-65 scale by one scout for his defense.
IF Cristhian Herrero ($20,000) An infielder from Venezuela who has no scouting report from Romero.
If correct, this has the Padres committed to seven players so far with a bonus pool total of $3.19 million. This still leaves them $2.75 million to spend on players with contracts above $10,000.
Top prospects Jhoan De La Cruz and Deivid Coronil are both shortstops that signed in the 2025 international class. LHP Carlos Alvarez was also part of that class and is a rising prospect in the Padres system.
Category: General Sports
