Detroit Tigers International Signings: Five-Year Review

Detroit Tigers International Review

Today a new group of international prospects joins the Detroit Tigers organization. Years of dedication, hard work, and scouting culminate in an exciting day, when a crop of promising young amateur athletes officially become professional baseball players.

It’s a dream come true for so many young men. But it’s also merely the first step on a very long and difficult journey to the big leagues. And, historically speaking, the Detroit Tigers have not done a great job ushering their international talent to the highest level.

Baseball America recently looked at all 30 organizations to see which clubs were best at acquiring and developing international free agents since 2012. The Tigers ranked 25th with nine international signings to reach the majors, and they ranked 18th in terms of WAR — though 86% of that 29.3 WAR belongs to Willy Adames, who never played an inning with the Tigers.

So, before we celebrate the class of 2026, we wanted to look back at the last five groups of international signings to see if the Tigers are headed in the right direction.

2021 Class

Total Signings: 18
Biggest Bonuses ($300K+): Cristian Santana, Abel Bastidas, Rayner Castillo, Carlos Pelegrin, Yimmy Diaz
Still in the System: 7
On Our Top 50: Castillo

There was a fair amount of optimism surrounding this class, mostly because of headliner Cristian Santana. Santana was the most expensive ($3 million) and highest ranked international prospect the Tigers had ever landed, and he looked like a shortstop who could hit. Five years later Santana is a first baseman with a career .195 batting average who is likely heading into his final season of professional baseball.

In the end, this group looks much like most of Detroit’s disappointing international hauls from the previous 20 years or so. The only real hopes for a big leaguer are right-handed pitchers Rayner Castillo and Carlos Marcano. And if they make it, it will almost certainly be as relievers.

2022 Class

Total Signings: 26
Biggest Bonuses ($300K+): Javier Osorio, Samuel Gil, Heison Sanchez, Josue Briceño, Franyerber Montilla
Still in the System: 14
On Our Top 50: Briceño, Montilla

As Detroit Tigers international classes go, this is a jackpot. Josue Briceño is a consensus top-100 prospect in baseball — Detroit’s first homegrown international prospect to land on a top-100 list since Steven Moya in 2015. He might have as much raw power as Moya, and he’s a significantly better pure hitter. Franyerber Montilla is a switch-hitter with plus speed, terrific defensive tools, and plenty of offensive upside. Samuel Gil has well below-average power and no physical projection remaining, but he’s a fine baseball player who should stick in the organization for several more years.

Javier Osorio received the biggest bonus of this group. He has impressive tools, but remains raw on both sides of the ball. Osorio spent three seasons in the Dominican Summer League, but came stateside in 2025 and put up strong numbers in the Florida Complex League. If he can repeat that performance in full-season ball he may vault onto our Top 50. This class is lacking promising pitching talent, though Antonio Florido and Eddy Felix have had some success in the low minors.

JOSUE BRICEÑO THREE-HOMER GAME 🚨

The @tigers prospect mashes his way into the @wmwhitecaps record books with an historic power showing 📚 pic.twitter.com/922ZFqvjO9

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 30, 2025

2023 Class

Total Signings: 33
Biggest Bonuses ($300K+): Enrique Jimenez, Cristian Perez, Anibal Salas, Maikol Orozco, Juan Hernandez, Samuell Sanchez
Still in the System: 26
On Our Top 50: Kelvis Salcedo

The Tigers didn’t really go for any big-ticket signings in this class, with Jimenez earning the highest bonus at $1.25 million. He showed promise as a switch-hitting catcher, but the club sent him to Minnesota for Chris Paddack just before the trade deadline. Perez has been a disappointment, but Hernandez, Orozco, and Salas all played in the FCL last year and showed glimpses of promise. Sanchez missed all of 2023 and 2024, but he put up big stats in the DSL last year.

But the crown jewel of this class appears to be a pitcher. Kelvis Salcedo landed in our top 10 after a spectacular stateside debut in 2025, and he might just be the best pitching prospect in the entire system. We are also keeping our eye on RHP Wuilberth Mendez, who showed an intriguing sinker/slider mix last year. Lefty Ericksson De Los Santos is very big and throws hard, but so far in his career strikes have been optional. And Duque Hebbert is a fun story, but he probably won’t advance to the upper minors without a big increase in velocity.

2024 Class

Total Signings: 27
Biggest Bonuses ($300K+): Nestor Miranda, Jesus Pinto, Jose Dickson, Armando Lao
Still in the System: 27
On Our Top 50: Jhonan Coba, Jesus Pinto

Things don’t look great early for Miranda, who got the biggest bonus in this class. He has big power, but has battled injuries and strikeouts, and he’s probably a 1B/DH. But there are still some very promising young players here. Jose Dickson is a young shortstop with some feel to hit and physical projection remaining. He was joined in the FCL by Ronald Ramirez and Jesus Pinto, who both look like fairly advanced hitters.

Jhonan Coba is an exciting young pitching prospect who should make his way to Florida in 2026. Australians Jack Bushell and Ali Tanner both showed interesting arm talent before getting injured last year. And catcher Steven Madero had an excellent pro debut in 2024, but his 2025 season was spoiled by injuries.

Jose Dickson homered earlier, and now he smokes an RBI triple to right center. Left his bat at 102.5 MPH. pic.twitter.com/uDieL5NNGq

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 9, 2025

2025 Class

Total Signings: 22
Biggest Bonuses ($300K+): Cris Rodriguez, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Benavides, Anderson Diaz, Jhonger Ochoa, Angel De Los Santos, Jeremy Cano, Mitchell Evans
Still in the System: 22
On Our Top 50: Rodriguez, De Los Santos

It’s obviously still incredibly early for this bunch, but we saw some exciting pro debuts in 2025. Cris Rodriguez is the biggest name here, having received Detroit’s biggest international bonus ever, at $3.2 million. He showed stunning power production for a 17 year old, but he will need to refine his swing decisions at higher levels. Shortstop Angel De Los Santos missed about a month of game action, but he scorched the ball upon his return, batting .370 with solid extra-base power.

Outfielder Jose Ramirez quietly had a very solid pro debut, while catcher Carlos Benavides showed flashes of potential two-way impact down the road. Lefty hurler Anderson Diaz had trouble finding the zone, but when he was on he showed a promising low-90s heater and a fun mid-70s curve. The Tigers kept adding players during the 11-month signing window, including signing tall RHP Jesus Febles right before the deadline last month.

Cris Rodriguez officially has our attention. This time he takes a 99 MPH fastball from Kevin Defrank and blasts it over the left field wall at 109 MPH. It’s his 2nd home run, and 7th extra-base hit, in his first 6 pro games. pic.twitter.com/NfZu9u9w8u

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 9, 2025