The New York Yankees were dealt some bad news on an international free agent signing.
New York reportedly had an agreement in place with Mairon De La Rosa. He was considered the top hitter in the 2027 class, and it was worth a reported $4.3 million. However, he broke the deal off on Saturday and has quickly landed elsewhere.
MLB insider Wilber Sanchez, who covers the international free agent market, reported De La Rosa has now landed with the Seattle Mariners. Not only did he back out of his deal with the Yankees, but he took less money as well.
“Source: Mairon De La Rosa, who was previously linked to the Yankees, has reached a pre-agreement with the Seattle Mariners for a $3.8 million signing bonus,” Sanchez wrote. “The top hitter in the 2027 class didn’t last 24 hours on the market following his split with New York. Despite receiving higher offers, Mairon’s representatives chose to move forward with Seattle, quickly closing the deal amid strong league-wide interest.”
De La Rosa is a shortstop prospect and is known for his elite speed and hitting. He’s a switch-hitter with plus-plus speed and has raw power potential, which many scouts believe will translate to the majors as he gets older.
Yankees Lose Multiple IFA Prospects
De La Rosa spurning the Yankees comes after other international free agent prospects left the team.
Earlier this offseason, the Yankees dismissed Donny Rowland from his role as international director, which has led to prospects backing out of their deals.
Sanchez reported that Leonardo Feliz became the third international player the Yankees have lost in less than 24 hours. He had a $1.3 million agreement with New York and will now look to sign elsewhere. Along with Feliz and De La Rosa, Wandy Asigen broke his agreement with the Yankees. To make matters worse, he then signed with the New York Mets.
Rowland, who’s 62, spent 23 seasons with the organization, and Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman said the team opted not to re-sign him after his contract expired.
“His contract had expired, so just like everything else, you’ve got to make some very difficult decisions,” Cashman said. “I’ve been involved with Donny Rowland for a long time. But fork in the road, (his) contract had expired and so I made the difficult decision to look for a different lead voice in that chair.”
Whether or not the Yankees will regret moving on from Rowland is uncertain. But, New York has already seen some top international free agents move on.
New York Likes Current Roster
The Yankees have had a relatively quiet offseason, but the team likes its roster.
New York didn’t think they had to do much this offseason, as manager Aaron Boone said he liked the roster.
“You’re always trying to improve your club and improve your team,” Boone said. “But (you) also pause and say, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good here.’ And we’ve got a lot of really good players, and a lot of really good, young core players that emerged on different levels last year.”
The Yankees have the second-best odds of winning the World Series at +900.
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