New York Yankees 2025 International Class Scouting Report
With the MLB international signing period opening today, teams can officially begin to sign players in their 2025 class.
For Baseball America subscribers, we have scouting reports and player notes on the classes for all 30 teams, providing information on the big names to know in each class, as well as deeper cut players to watch.
While the Yankees are no longer a finalist for Roki Sasaki, players have been told the Yankees are planning to wait until after Sasaki signs to finalize their signings. The Yankees do have a history of being flexible with their players. They waited until the buzzer of the 2024 signing period in Dec. 2024 to sign Dominican shortstop Stiven Marinez for $1.65 million after being connected to him for a long time, as one example.
The players set to be the top two bonus players in their class are shortstop Manny Cedeño and outfielder Ruben Castillo, both from the Dominican Republic. Cedeño is an Aug. 14 birthday, just ahead of the Aug. 31 cutoff to be eligible to sign this year, so he’s one of the youngest players in the 2025 class. He’s 5-foot-11, 170 pounds with a righthanded swing that’s short and quick to the ball with good bat speed and hand-eye coordination to put the ball in play at a high clip. It’s a line-drive approach and the ball carries well off his bat for a player with his medium frame. A plus runner with an above-average arm, Cedeño has a chance to stay at shortstop, though second or third base could be in his future.
Castillo is a lean 6-foot, 165-pound lefty with above-average speed and good instincts in center field. There was a split camp among scouts on his pure hitting ability, but those highest on him liked his quick hands and knack for being on time to put the ball in play with room to fill out and grow his gap power.
Dominican outfielder Isaias Castillo (no relation to Ruben) physically looks like a taller version of Jasson Dominguez with his thick build (6 feet, 192 pounds) packed with strength and explosiveness. Castillo can whistle the barrel through the zone with vicious bat speed to generate big power and doesn’t need to get long with his swing to do so. He’s a plus runner who moves well enough to develop as a center fielder, but he’s built more like a corner outfielder, so he could end up sliding over at higher levels.
Another Dominican outfielder, Edison Charles, has tantalizing physical upside as a long, lean 6-foot-4, 195-pound righthanded hitter with huge power potential. If he’s able to sync up his long levers to be consistently on time and make enough contact, he could take off because his strength projection and high-end bat speed point to a player who could grow into plus-plus raw power. He’s a plus runner underway too, so he runs well for his size, though with how big he could get that tool might back up, so he’s probably a corner outfielder.
Dominican shortstop Carlos Bello was a prominent name early in the scouting process for the 2025 class. There was a split camp from scouts on his pure hitting ability, with scouts highest on him liking his chance to hit. He’s at shortstop now but could move around the infield, with third base a potential fit.
