It’s been a quiet winter for the Toronto Blue Jays at the MLB level, but they reportedly agreed to terms with a Dominican pitching prospect Wednesday. The Blue Jays signed right-hander Hansel Rodriguez for $330,000, Baseball America’s Ben Badler reported.
Rodriguez, who turns 17 on February 27, has a fastball that sits above 90 m.p.h. and can touch 95 m.p.h., Badler writes. The 6’2” right-hander also throws an above-average curveball.
The deal was made possible by a trade the Blue Jays completed with the Los Angeles Angels at the December Winter Meetings. The Blue Jays acquired $243,500 in international cap space from the Angels for Brian Moran, a left-hander they had selected minutes earlier in the Rule 5 Draft. The Blue Jays were up against their 2013-14 international signing period limit of $2.82 million before completing the deal with the Angels, which allowed Toronto to continue spending on Rodriguez without facing strict penalties.
Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said after completing the deal with the Angels that he was eyeing an available international free agent.
