White Sox sign 7 as international signing period opens

Major League Baseball's international signing period opened Sunday, and the White Sox have announced the signing of seven prospects from Latin American countries.

None of these guys are going to be familiar to fans in the U.S., so I won't pretend to have any inside information on any of them. The consensus seems to be that this group of seven players is a little underwhelming -- the Sox didn't sign any headlining prospects here -- but you never know when a diamond in the rough can be found.

Here are the seven players added, with their position, country and signing bonus:

1. Luis Reyes, P, Dominican Republic, $700,000
2. Abraham Nunez, OF, Dominican Republic, $700,000
3. D'Angelo Tejada, SS, Dominican Republic, $350,000
   
4. Rafael Alvarez, OF, Cuba, $300,000
5. Juan Uribe Jr., SS, Dominican Republic, $200,000
6. Albert Alberto, OF, Dominican Republic, $50,000
7. Denny Lima, P, Dominican Republic, $10,000

By all accounts, Reyes is the best prospect in the class. He's ranked No. 41 on the international Top 50 prospects list. According to an article written by The Athletic's James Fegan, who gets better information on these Latin prospects than most, Reyes is a 6-foot-3 right-hander with a "power fastball," slider and changeup.

The most recognizable name on this list is, of course, Uribe Jr. Yes, he is the son of former White Sox shortstop and World Series champion Juan Uribe. It is obviously way too soon to determine if he will be as good as his dad.

The Sox expect to add more signings in the coming weeks. Angelo Hernandez, a catcher out of Venezuela, is allegedly going to sign with the Sox for $500,000.

If Hernandez is added, the Sox are estimated to still have another $2.5 million to use in the international market. Those dollars can be spent anytime in 2023, or they could be traded to another club.

Worth noting: Sometimes these low-budget international prospects actually do amount to something. If you look at Baseball America's top 10 White Sox prospects right now, six of them come from the international pool -- outfielder Oscar Colas, third baseman Bryan Ramos, shortstops Jose Rodriguez and Lenyn Sosa, and pitchers Norge Vera and Cristian Mena.

As critical as I have been of the Sox in a lot of areas, international signings is one area where they've done a decent job -- despite their frugal ways.