International free agency: Bonuses, scouting reports for 2025 Marlins signings

[Ely Sussman]

Introducing all of the players who inked deals with the Marlins on January 15.

Wednesday marked the start of a new signing period for international amateur free agents. The Miami Marlins have an 11-month window to allocate their $7,555,500 bonus pool, but almost all of that money has been spent on the very first day. Here's what we know so far about the prospects they just added from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Mexico.

This is the first Marlins signing class being overseen by David Hernandez Beayne. Hernandez Beayne, who's been with the organization since 2019, was promoted to director of international scouting last fall.

The bonuses for these initial 17 signings total $6,745,000, sources tell Fish On First. Deals of $10,000 or less do not count toward the club's bonus pool, so $6,735,000 of their bonus pool was used on them. However, the Marlins also traded away $250,000 in bonus pool money on Wednesday afternoon to acquire RHP William Kempner from the San Francisco Giants—that leaves them with only $570,500 remaining. FOF can confirm reporting by Francys Romero that Cuban RHP Adriano Marrero is expected to sign in the near future, so there won't be much wiggle room to make further additions to this class.

Players born between September 1, 2007 and August 31, 2008 are newly eligible to sign and the majority of the Marlins' additions are in that age range.

Name	Country	Signing Bonus
Anthony Abreu	Dominican Republic	$550,000
Luis Arana	Venezuela	$30,000
Edelson Canelon	Venezuela	$200,000
Keyner Cedeño	Venezuela	$50,000
Kevin Defrank	Dominican Republic	$560,000
Diego Godoy	Venezuela	$10,000
Steven Herrera	Dominican Republic	$125,000
Santiago Linares	Venezuela	$170,000
Johan Machado	Venezuela	$330,000
Diego Martínez	Venezuela	$200,000
Pedro Montero	Dominican Republic	$35,000
Moises Morales	Mexico	$35,000
Adrian Peña	Dominican Republic	$400,000
Jesús Pérez	Venezuela	$50,000
Sandy Presbot	Dominican Republic	$70,000
Isaac Prince	Dominican Republic	$230,000
Andrew Salas	Venezuela	$3,700,000

 

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INF/OF Andrew Salas (Venezuela)

Born: 3/4/08 | B/T: S/R | Ht/Wt: 6'2"/180

Salas was born in Florida and spent his early childhood there before the family moved to Venezuela. He is an above-average, fundamentally sound defender at both center field and shortstop. He has good plate discipline and hits to all fields, though the 16-year-old hasn't demonstrated much game power yet.

Last summer, Salas played 33 games against grown men in Venezuela's Liga Mayor de Béisbol Profesional. The league listed him at 6'0", 160 pounds, but he's now up to 6'2", 180 pounds.

Salas' eldest brother, José, was the headliner of the 2019-20 Marlins signing class ($2.8 million bonus). Now with the Minnesota Twins org, his career has stalled at the High-A level. The Marlins hope Andrew's superior defense and overall athleticism will give a higher floor.

 

RHP Kevin Defrank (Dominican Republic)

Born: 8/11/08 | B/T: R/R | Ht/Wt: 6'5"/202

The top pitcher of this Marlins signing class, Defrank pairs a mid-90s fastball with a nasty changeup. 

The 6'5" right-hander just turned 16 in August, which will make him one of the youngest players to sign with any MLB team during the 2025 IFA period.

 

INF Anthony Abreu (Dominican Republic)

Born: 1/8/08 | B/T: L/R | Ht/Wt: 6'1"/180

Likely a third baseman long term, Abreu garners praise for his pitch recognition. He arguably has the highest offensive upside of this signing class.

 

RHP Adrian Peña (Dominican Republic)

Born: 5/2/08 | B/T: R/R | Ht/Wt: 6'7"/194

From David Hernandez Beayne: "A guy who just has elite size, still very projectable, very athletic and coordinated. He's already been up to 94 miles per hour for us with an absolute plus breaking ball that he spins up to 2,700-2,800 [RPM]. Just in terms of understanding his development timeline, his age and where he needs to get to, we think he has one of the highest upsides of any player in this class...Might take some time because it's always difficult for those bigger guys to be able to coordinate their bodies and get that functional strength needed to be able to repeat consistently, but we feel very excited about his potential and what he can become."

 

INF Johan Machado (Venezuela)

Born: 11/7/07 | B/T: S/R | Ht/Wt: 6'1"/140

The wiry Machado has all of the ingredients to stick at shortstop, but will need to develop a lot physically.

Like Andrew Salas, Machado got his first taste of pro ball in 2024 with Liga Mayor de Béisbol Profesional, appearing in 12 games (mostly off the bench).

 

RHP Isaac Prince (Dominican Republic)

Born: 9/20/07 | B/T: R/R | Ht/Wt: 6'1"/175

 

RHP Edelson Canelon (Venezuela)

Born: 10/28/07 | B/T: R/R | Ht/Wt: 6'4"/165

 

C Diego Martínez (Venezuela)

Born: 12/29/07 | B/T: L/R | Ht/Wt: 6'1"/198

 

RHP Santiago Linares (Venezuela)

Born: 12/8/07 | B/T: R/R | Ht/Wt: 6'1"/187 

 

INF Steven Herrera (Dominican Republic)

Born: 2/21/08 | B/T: R/R | Ht/Wt: 6'0"/160

From David Hernandez Beayne: "We don't know if he's going to be able to stick at shortstop; we do know that he's gonna be able to play all over the field...All the tests that we did amongst all our players, he's number one in raw explosiveness, bat speed, power...If it all clicks for him, he's one of the guys that we picked internally as our dark horse to be somebody that can become impactful."

 

INF Sandy Presbot (Dominican Republic)

Born: 10/20/07 | B/T: S/R | Ht/Wt: 5'7"/160

 

LHP Keyner Cedeño (Venezuela)

Born: 9/13/07 | B/T: L/L | Ht/Wt: 6'0"/180

 

OF Jesús Pérez (Venezuela)

Born: 3/12/08 | B/T: R/R | Ht/Wt: 5'11"/174

 

RHP Pedro Montero (Dominican Republic)

Born: 7/11/07 | B/T: R/R | Ht/Wt: 6'1"/144

 

C Moises Morales (Mexico)

Born: 5/2/08 | B/T: L/R | Ht/Wt: 6'0"/172

 

INF Luis Arana (Venezuela)

Born: 3/19/08 | B/T: S/R | Ht/Wt: 5'10"/154

 

LHP Diego Godoy (Venezuela)

Born: 11/29/04 | B/T: L/L | Ht/Wt: 6'0"/165

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[rurrusuno]

I'm surprised we didn't get anyone from Puerto Rico

[Slacker Mills]

The Salas family must hold hands around the dinner table each night and give praise to the Marlins. Jose signed for millions in 2019 (and proved to be a bust) and now Andrew has received even more millions despite a similar profile to Jose.

[Ely Sussman]

17 hours ago, rurrusuno said:

I'm surprised we didn't get anyone from Puerto Rico

That's because Puerto Rican players are eligible for the draft! They used to be treated as international players, but that changed a few decades ago.

[Ely Sussman]

10 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

Andrew has received even more millions despite a similar profile to Jose.

The similarities are there. I specifically wonder about whether Andrew will face the same limitation when it comes to game power.

That being said, Andrew's defense is meaningfully better than Jose's at the same age. I'd be surprised if he doesn't at least get a cup of coffee in the majors someday.

[rurrusuno]

55 minutes ago, Ely Sussman said:

That's because Puerto Rican players are eligible for the draft! They used to be treated as international players, but that changed a few decades ago.

Makes sense since it's part of U.S. territory. I just thought it was American and Canadian players that were prevented from participating in these signings. 

[Slacker Mills]

3 hours ago, Ely Sussman said:

The similarities are there. I specifically wonder about whether Andrew will face the same limitation when it comes to game power.

That being said, Andrew's defense is meaningfully better than Jose's at the same age. I'd be surprised if he doesn't at least get a cup of coffee in the majors someday.

It's just too much for the Marlins to pay for a cup of dang coffee. It's worse than Starbucks. Ely, I don't know what's going on with this team. They can't trade: Jazz gone for a catcher who only has value if he can catch ... and he can't.? Luzardo gone at lowest value point so we can talk about paying EVEN MORE for an arm like Corbin, Quintana or Heany?? It's madness.