Many players selected by MLB organizations have signed since the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft ended roughly a month ago. Just yesterday, the 2013-14 international signing period began, and already, certain players have also signed agreements with MLB clubs. This can understandably be quite a busy time of year for a baseball agency that represents many Latin American players, since Puerto Ricans are eligible to be drafted and young foreigners from popular baseball countries such as Venezuela and Dominican Republic are now able to be signed.
MDR Sports Management is one of those full-service sports management firms that specialize in representing Latin American baseball players. Its most recent negotiations included a $900,000-plus deal that consisted of a signing bonus and incentive for Puerto Rican catcher/third baseman Victor Caratini, a second-round pick for the Atlanta Braves in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft, and a $900,000-plus deal for Erick Julio, a 16-year-old Colombian RHP for the Colorado Rockies, that consists a signing bonus, future educational funds and progressive bonus, making it one of the largest deals made in that country.
MDR has stayed very busy in addition to the craziness surrounding the MLB First-Year Player Draft and the opening of the international signing period. Over the past 6 months, MDR has signed a total of 13 new players, including Venezuelans Jesus Sanchez, RHP for the Milwaukee Brewers, Jonathan Herrera, infielder for the Colorado Rockies, Henry Rodriguez, infielder for the Cincinnati Reds, and Eduardo Escobar, infielder for the Minnesota Twins; Dominicans Jonathan Villar, infielder for the Houston Astros, Rhiner Cruz, RHP for the Houston Astros, and Santos Rodriguez, LHP for the Chicago White Sox; Cuban player Leonys Martin, centerfielder for the Texas Rangers; Puerto Ricans Rene Garcia, double-A catcher for the Houston Astros, Roberto Perez, triple-A catcher for the Cleveland Indians, Jorge Fernandez, rookie catcher for the Minnesota Twins and Rookie Victor Caratini, third baseman and catcher for the Atlanta Braves; and Colombian Erick Julio, rookie RHP for the Colorado Rockies.
“We are extremely happy with our recruiting efforts and glad to have these new clients on the team,” said Melvin Roman, president and CEO of MDR Sports Management. “Our goal as a company is to provide good representation to Latin American ballplayers.”
And that is exactly what MDR has been busy doing. The company now has 53 clients from a mixture of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Cuba. Among MDR’s most valuable clients are St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia, Chicago White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana and Texas Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos.
