Toronto Blue Jays reportedly strike record-breaking multimillion-dollar deal with 14-year-old star
One day, the Toronto Blue Jays might just have a stadium filled with fans wearing Angel Montas jerseys.
Montas, a 14-year-old star player in the Dominican Republic who is the expected top international free agent in the 2028 class, has reportedly verbally agreed to a deal worth US$5.7 million with the Blue Jays, expected to be paid out three years from now.
The deal was originally reported by Hector Gomez, with ESPN’s Jeff Passan later going on to discuss the reported deal on Sportsnet’s Blair and Barker.
“I don’t have the reporting, but if there is, in fact, a $5.7-million agreement, chances are Angel Montas, two years from now, three years from now, is going to sign for $5.7 million,” Passan explained.
As shared by Gomez, it is the largest deal in MLB history for an international free agent.
Who is the Blue Jays’ newest prospect?
International free agents are a unique concept in baseball, with underage players often agreeing to deals with teams before they’re even old enough to vote.
“It’s the wild, wild west,” Passan explained.
The most famous international free agent in Blue Jays history is Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who signed with the team in 2015 and made his MLB debut four years later.
Officially, Montas can’t sign his deal for three more years, and either party could back out of the deal between now and then.
But if the Blue Jays do end up officially agreeing to a deal with Montas in three years, he seems like one heck of a prospect, even if he’s still many years away from being eligible to play professionally.
13 year old Angel Montas (ā29,DR) LH for @Elev8_baseball stands at 6ā4 . Strokes the ball to left field for a double with an EV of 101. In control of his at bat allowing him to choose the pitch to drive #PSWS pic.twitter.com/ZzNzOJZS27
— Prospect Select Scout (@PSBaseballScout) September 14, 2024
“Outstanding young athletic build with good present strength and more to come. Left-handed hitter, has easy rhythm into his swing and repeats his timers well, huge bat speed with strength to all fields, gets into his lower half well, heavy barrel at impact,” a 2024 report by Perfect Game of his reads.
“Primary outfielder on defence, is aggressive to the ball and works through it well, solid fundamentals regardless of his age, has present arm strength and makes accurate on-line throws.”