Baseball America has it's International Class Reviews for 2025 up today. They have Antunez, Fenelon, and Acosta in our "Top of the Class" signings with a bunch more under "Names to Know"
Thought it would be cool to look up last years to see if anyone saw Made and Pena coming. Here are their excerpts as the first two "Names to Know" after Quintana being the only one listed in "Top of the Class" :
Jesus Made, SS, Dominican Republic: Made, 17, was one of big three international signings this year for the Brewers, landing a $950,000 bonus. He has grown to 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, a physical, athletic shortstop with a chance to hit for power from both sides of the plate, especially from the right side. Made fires the barrel through the zone with good bat speed and a knack for driving the ball with backspin, flashing above-average raw power. Some scouts thought his contact skills were solid for his age, though it could end a power-over-hit profile. Made is an above-average athlete with plus speed and an arm that’s at least a 60 and potentially a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale. He will need more polish defensively and could end up outgrowing the position, with third base or center field potential landing spots.
Luis Peña, SS, Dominican Republic: Peña is the other of Milwaukee’s three big international signings this year along with Quintana and Made, joining the Brewers for an $800,000 bonus. At 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, he has a strong, compact build for 17 that’s packed with explosiveness. He’s a righthanded hitter whose swing can get long, but he has shown solid bat-to-ball skills for his age because he picks up spin well with a flatter path to the ball.
He has the combination of strength and bat speed to drive the ball for hard contact, though his approach is geared more toward line drives than loft right now, with the potential for plus raw power. Peña doesn’t have the long, gliding strides of a lot of speedsters, but he’s a power runner with 70 speed on the 20-80 scale. He has to clean some things up with his actions to stay at shortstop, but his athleticism gives him a chance to stay there, with a plus arm that would also fit at third base.