Major League Baseball’s international signing period opens today for the 2026 class, which means prospects can officially sign their contracts.
For Baseball America subscribers, we have full breakdowns of the signing classes for all 30 teams, including scouting reports on the top players for each organization, other big names to know and lower-profile players to watch who could be sleepers.
The Rays had several intriguing players in the Dominican Summer League from their 2025 class who will make their way to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League this year. Their 2026 class, however, is even more exciting and is shaping up to be one of the organization’s best groups in the last several years thanks to a mix of impact position prospects and talent on the mound.
Dominican shortstop Victor Valdez, signing for $3.5 million, offers a good balance of righthanded hitting ability and power. At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, he’s strong for his age with good bat speed and power, showing the strength projection to develop into a 25-plus home run hitter. He has sound swing mechanics and can tap into that power in games with his ability to control the strike zone and an approach in which he looks to hunt pitches that he can drive for damage while staying through the middle of the field. Valdez stands out most for what he does in the batter’s box, but his improved defensive actions give him a chance to continue at shortstop. He has increased his speed to become a plus runner, and while there remains a chance he settles at third base at higher levels, he has boosted his lateral quickness and shows good body control with an above-average arm.
Valdez is getting the bigger bonus, but Venezuelan shortstop Fabricio Blanco—signing for $1 million—is just as talented. A smaller, 5-foot-7 shortstop earlier in the scouting process, Blanco has been one of the biggest up-arrow players in Venezuela and has become one of the elite players in the 2026 class. He has grown to 5-foot-11, 160 pounds and has an exciting blend of both tools and game skills as a player who projects to handle a premium position. A switch-hitter, Blanco takes a quick, compact swing with a good path to stay through the hitting zone for a long time. He has a knack for being on time and barreling balls with a high contact rate in games, consistently turning in quality at-bats with a strong track record of offensive performance. Blanco isn’t that physical, but his bat speed helps him drive the ball well with home run power to his pull side that should climb higher as he continues getting stronger. Blanco is an above-average runner who has the instincts, actions, internal clock and plus arm to handle shortstop.
Dominican outfielder Jean Paredes, signing for $1 million, offers physical projection to dream on with a chance for everything to tick up once he gets stronger. Paredes has a slender build (6-foot-1, 165 pounds) and plays the game with an impressive ease of operation. It’s a smooth, low-effort swing from the left side with good feel for hitting against live pitching. Paredes has started to steadily layer on more strength over the past year. He shows loft and leverage in his swing that allows him to go deep to his pull side now, and he has the potential for that power to spike once he packs on more weight. He’s a tick-above-average runner who moves around well in center field and has a strong arm that could tick up more as he fills out.
The Rays are also signing one of the elite pitching prospects in the 2026 international class, Colombian righthander Emmanuel Hernandez, for $400,000. Hernandez is 6-foot-1, 180 pounds and was pitching mostly in the upper-80s a couple years ago with advanced pitchability. Hernandez still has good control and now his stuff has spiked to where he’s pitching in the low-to-mid 90s and reaching 97 mph, premium velocity for a pitcher who turned 17 in November. Hernandez has a starter look between his delivery, stuff and ability to manipulate multiple secondary pitches. His best offspeed pitch is a lively changeup that’s extremely advanced for his age, while his breaking ball shows promising traits to project as another bat-missing weapon.
Dominican outfielder Luis Almanzar, another $400,000 signing, has also trended up. He’s 6-foot, 165 pounds, standing out for his lefthanded swing and physical upside to grow into power. His bat speed has already ticked up, allowing him to drive the ball for quality contact and occasional pull-side home run power with projection for more to come. He’s not a burner, but his speed has increased to become a fringe-average runner and his arm has improved as well to become an average tool. He could see some time in center field but likely is best suited for a corner.