Right-handed pitcher Yefri Del Rosario, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound 18-year-old who was once a highly regarded prospect of the Atlanta Braves prior to the reinstatement of his free agency (due to the Braves’ circumvention of the international signing guidelines), has agreed to a deal with the Kansas City Royals for $650,000. He previously received a $1 million signing bonus from the Braves as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic.
Del Rosario is the first of the twelve former Braves prospects to sign with a new team after MLB’s sanctions were announced last month. He was ranked the number-four hurler in the 2016 international class by Baseball America and has been described as having a live fastball and a hammer curveball. In the Gulf Coast League in 2017, he posted a 3.90 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and 29:10 K:BB across 32.1 innings split between starting and relieving.
Sources describe Del Rosario as the most promising international pitching prospect the Braves had had perhaps since Julio Teheran. Although Del Rosario is very talented, he is still extremely raw and likely at least a couple years away from the big leagues.
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