Blue Jays – Scouting report on Christopher Polanco, the top international prospect linked to Toronto for the 2025 signing period

He makes solid contact and can push or pull the ball both ways. The lefty-bat keeps his weight properly on his backside, transitioning that power on the swing, exploding on contact. 

Defensively, evaluators see the infielder as average or just above, with a 45 on the 20-80 grade scale. Polanco’s speed isn’t a present baseline tool of strength but that can be constructed. However, he is smooth on his feet and moves well in the hole with a strong arm that follows through each play. Polanco isn’t exactly your projected shortstop but can fill the role; chances are, moving to second base may be the best move for him in the future although the likelihood of him getting a chance to get started at shortstop to begin his career is high. 

The Compensation

Polanco is expected to be Toronto’s highest-valued signing in this year’s international class. The monetary estimate for the Dominican shortstop is projected to be upwards of $1 million and could surpass that.  The Blue Jays sit in a signing bonus pool worth $6,261,600 amongst 10 other teams. The club has also been linked to Roki Sasaki, the Japanese pitcher who is the darling of the 2025 international signing period, so it will be interesting to see how things shake up in regards to Toronto’s pursuit of the right-hander and the money that is allocated to players like Polanco with the signing period set to begin within the next five days. 

The Blue Jays had some success in last year’s international signing period, beefing up their farm system with mostly positional prospects. Franklin Rojas, a catcher from Venezuela, was Toronto’s top signing. Rojas earned $997,500 while outfielder Andres Arias and infielder Angel Guzman cashed in at $897,500 and $767,500 respectively. The club was also set to sign Kennew Blanco, who was poised to earn the most of the group in the form of a $1.7 million bonus, but the Blue Jays pulled out of the deal when it was learned that he was 17 years old, not 16. The expectation is that the Jays will sign him for a lesser amount this upcoming year.