The international signing period for this year opened on Thursday, and the Boston Red Sox started inking deals with prospects in this year’s class.
The Red Sox have $5.94 million to work with this offseason. The funds are used to give signing bonuses to international prospects, and signing bonuses under $10,000 do not count against the team’s spending. The Red Sox reportedly signed Brazilian pitcher Claudio Pereira, per Baseball America’s Ben Badler.
Pereira reportedly signed with a signing bonus of $500,000. It is reportedly the fourth-largest signing bonus the Red Sox will give out in this signing period. The biggest Red Sox signing bonus belongs to Garielvin Silverio, who reportedly got a $1.4 million signing bonus, per Badler.
Pereira was the 90th-ranked prospect in this class by Baseball America, and he was the No. 1 Brazilian prospect.
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“It’s been rare for Brazil to have a player sign for a bonus in the mid six figures or higher in recent years,” Badler wrote of Pereira in his rankings. “That’s changing this year, with Pereira the top Brazilian prospect for 2026. He’s built like Marlins righthander Eury Perez was at the same age, a skinny 6-foot-6, 190 pounds at 17. His fastball scrapes 90 mph with a frame that screams projection for him to add significantly more velocity once he gains weight. It’s an easy operation for Pereira, who pitches with steep angle and shows feel for a changeup that he leans on heavily and is ahead of his curveball.”
According to Baseball Reference, only five players born in Brazil have ever reached the big leagues. Yan Gomes is the most notable name, having played in over 1,100 games. Thyago Vieira has pitched the most games in the big leagues among Brazilian-born pitchers with 53 games.
The Red Sox will hope to get more velocity out of Pereira in the coming years. He is one of the headliners of their international signing class and has the potential to be the first Brazilian-born player to play for the Red Sox.
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