The Mariners have been one of the leaders in signing European prospects, and now they can add a French lefthander to their collection of international farmhands with their recent signing of Alexandre Roy, a 16-year-old from Rouen, France. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Roy, who is 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, is still very much a project with a low- to mid-80s fastball that has reached 88 mph. He already shows feel for his changeup, which some scouts said is ahead of his breaking ball, and he's earned good marks from scouts for his feel for pitching and mechanics.

Roy pitched for the French junior national team last July in Gijon, Spain at the European Junior Championship, a tournament that also included the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia, Belgium, Ukraine and Lithuania. Roy pitched in three games, allowing 10 runs (six earned) in nine innings with two walks and six strikeouts. He was just 15 at the time of the tournament and the youngest player on the French roster. Roy has also played in Major League Baseball's European academy in Italy. Roy, whose father is originally from Quebec, has dual citizenship in both France and Canada.

Last year the Mariners also signed a pair of European pitchers, righthander Daniel Thieben of Germany and righthander Lars Huijer from the Netherlands. They also used their ninth-round pick to draft shortstop Cavan Cohoes, an American citizen living on a U.S. military base in Germany.