Kansas City Royals 2025 International Signings Review

Top Of The Class

The biggest bonus of the class for the Royals went to Dominican shortstop Warren Calcaño, who signed for $1,847,500. Calcaño has long shined at shortstop, where he’s light on his feet and moves around with good body control and a nose for the ball. An average runner, Calcaño is an instinctive defender with soft hands and a plus arm that could still get stronger as he fills out.

Once a smaller, slender player, he has grown to a still wiry 6-foot-2, 165 pounds at 17 with hand-eye coordination that shows both in the field and at the plate, where he’s a switch-hitter with good bat-to-ball skills. He stays through the middle of the field with a line-drive approach, and while he likely will never be a big power threat and faces questions about how much extra-base impact he will ever develop, he has shown better contact quality over the past year and has more room on his frame to continue adding strength. 

The Royals signed another high-end shortstop from the Dominican Republic, 17-year-old Ramcell Medina, for $947,500. Wiry strong at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, he’s a lean, athletic shortstop with an impressive mix of hitting ability and power potential with good instincts for his age. A righthanded hitter, Medina has performed at a high level against live pitching—often facing older competition—and maneuvers the bat well to put the ball in play at a high clip with consistent quality contact.

An average runner, he has a knack for barreling balls with line drives that have impressive carry and occasional over-the-fence power that should continue to trend up given his physical projection. Where Medina once looked like an offensive-minded shortstop who would slide off the position and use his strong arm at third base, he has cleaned up his defensive actions and become more fundamentally sound at shortstop.

Names To Know

Moises Marchan, C, Venezuela: Marchan signed for $802,500 with a balanced skill set between his offensive and defensive game. A cousin of Phillies catcher Rafael Marchan, Moises was a smaller 5-foot-9 catcher early in the scouting process who has grown to 6-foot-1, 170 pounds with the attributes to stick behind the plate. He’s a smart, high-energy player with advanced catch-and-throw skills for a 17-year-old and an above-average arm. He’s also highly athletic for a catcher—he’s even a plus runner underway, though his speed should regress as he gets bigger—and it shows in the way he moves defensively. Marchan is a high-contact hitter with a sound righthanded swing and gap power now with the physical upside to grow into 15-20 home run power. 

Kendry Chourio, RHP, Venezuela: Early in the scouting process, Chourio stood out for his pitchability moreso than his raw velocity or size, but by the time the Royals signed him for $247,500, he’d developed into one of the top arms in the 2025 class. At 6 feet, 165 pounds, Chourio still isn’t that big, but he has outstanding control for a 17-year-old and a fastball that has soared to reach 96 mph. Chourio’s touch and feel—both for locating his fastball and manipulating his secondary stuff—has always been advanced. His curveball has tight rotation, sharp bite and should be a bat-missing pitch for him in pro ball, while his changeup is another pitch that’s advanced for his age, giving him a starter look.

Luis Ramon King, OF, Dominican Republic: The Royals signed Luis Ramon King and his twin brother, Luis Steven King, with Luis Ramon getting the bigger bonus at $388,500. Luis Ramon sticks out immediately for his lean 6-foot-3 frame with plenty of space to fill out and add to tools that are already advanced for a 17-year-old. There’s still some rawness to sync everything up consistently at the plate, but he’s an athletic center fielder with a plus arm and potential plus power from the right side. 

Luis Steven King, SS, Dominican Republic: King, the twin brother of Luis Ramon King, signed for $167,500. He’s a wiry 6-foot-3 shortstop who also has high physical upside, and while he’s still learning to recognize offspeed pitches, he has a plus arm and the actions that give him a chance to stick at shortstop. 

Luis German, OF, Dominican Republic: German, signed for $272,500, is a physical, righthanded slugger. He’s 6-foot-4, 210 pounds at 17 with the strength and bat speed to put on a show during batting practice. That power comes with some swing-and-miss, especially against soft stuff, but he can crush balls when he’s on the barrel with the potential for 70 raw power. He’s a corner outfielder who moves surprisingly well for his size with a tick-above-average speed underway.

Keisther Castillo, RHP, Dominican Republic: At 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, Castillo is a 17-year-old righthander with the strength projection to add to a fastball that touches the low 90s, and he shows feel to spin a curveball. He signed for $272,500. 

Jesus Ortega, SS, Venezuela: At 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, Ortega is a smaller middle infielder signed for $197,500 who stands out more for his instincts and skills than raw tools. Ortega is young for the class—he turns 17 on June 24—with a high baseball IQ and good hands in the infield, where he’s a fundamentally sound player. He should get time at shortstop but could fit long-term at second base or move all around the infield. He’s a line-drive, contact-oriented hitter with doubles power.

Freddy Contreras, RHP, Dominican Republic: Signed for $147,500, Contreras is a pitchability righthander who will play nearly the entire DSL season at 16 until he turns 17 on Aug. 10. At 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, he doesn’t have a typical projectable pitcher’s frame, but his feel to mix and match his stuff is advanced for his age, pitching off a fastball that reaches the low 90s with a curveball and changeup rounding his repertoire. 

Jose Montilla, C, Venezuela: At 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, Montilla doesn’t jump out physically, but he’s athletic for his size with some sneaky pop. He’s a 17-year-old righthanded hitter who can occasionally juice a ball out to his pull side and has an average arm. He signed for $147,500. 

Richer Mata, C, Venezuela: Another Venezuelan catcher the Royals signed for $147,500, Mata has an unusual build for a catcher at 6-foot-2, 155 pounds. It’s a long, thin frame for Mata, a 17-year-old who stands out for his potential to hit from the left side. He has shown promising offensive flashes with his bat-to-ball skills and loft in his swing that could lend itself to power if more impact comes as he fills out. He’s an offensive-minded catcher with a fringe-average arm. 

Sleeper Watch

Alejandro Guerrero was a 6-foot-1 shortstop when teams were scouting him in the Dominican Republic, but he has since grown to a lean 6-foot-3 and moved to center field. Signed for $97,500, Guerrero has some rawness to his game, but he’s athletic, has fast bat speed and puts a strong charge into the ball when he connects with a chance to develop above-average righthanded power once he fills out. He’s not a burner runner and is still learning center field, but he moves around well in the outfield and has a plus arm that would fit in right field.