The Los Angeles Dodgers have always been among the more active teams in the international free agent market, and it has paid off with the signings of Yasiel Puig and Julio Urias, among others.
They were at it again when the 2018 international signing period began in July, inking the No. 1 prospect of the class, Venezuelan catcher Diego Cartaya, to a $2.5 million contract.
He is only 16 years old, but Cartaya is already highly regarded in the Dodgers organization as he is ranked their 11th-best prospect by MLB.com despite not playing a single Minor League game.
Cartaya has been training at the team’s Dominican Republic academy, and he finally had the opportunity to visit Los Angeles and work out at Dodger Stadium over the weekend. That included participating in batting practice, which J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group captured video of:
Here is 16-year-old #Dodgers prospect Diego Cartaya taking BP at Dodger Stadium. That’s Andrew Friedman watching in the foreground. Sorry for the quality! pic.twitter.com/4zEoELXHHd
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) August 25, 2018
Mas Cartaya: pic.twitter.com/vraump4zHW
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) August 25, 2018
Terminado: pic.twitter.com/OJglWAK92b
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) August 25, 2018
The Dodgers have plenty of catching depth in their farm system now with the addition of Cartaya. He joins the likes of top prospects Keibert Ruiz, Will Smith and Connor Wong.
While Cartaya is obviously still a long way away from playing in a big league game at Dodger Stadium, getting a chance to meet some potential future teammates and take batting practice on the field had to have been a good experience for him.
