NEW YORK — The New York Yankees have spent much of 2026 planning for international classes that will not sign for years.
In January, Venezuelan reporter Wilber Sanchez reported that the club had a pre-agreement with Albert Mejias, a 13-year-old from Venezuela, worth a record $7 million. That figure includes $6.4 million in bonus money and $600,000 for an educational scholarship. Mejias projects to the 2030 class.
In August, Sanchez reported a $1 million pre-agreement with Wilson Gomez, a 15-year-old outfielder from Monte Plata, Dominican Republic, for the 2028 class.
The 2027 class is taking shape, too. Venezuelan catcher Sebastian Perez has been reported at $1.7 million, with catcher Marko Moura at $500,000. In late August, the Yankees were reported to be finalizing a deal with South Korean third baseman Joh Sung-chul, 17, who was projected as a first-round pick in the KBO draft. He cannot sign until the next period opens.
On paper, the pipeline looks busy.
The current class tells a different story, and the calendar is running out on it.
International amateurs sign in yearly periods, each with a hard spending cap. Every club gets a bonus pool, and the money assigned to one class cannot be saved for the next.
The 2026 period opened Jan. 15 after a messy winter. The Yankees parted ways with longtime international scouting director Donny Rowland late in 2025. Dominican shortstop Wandy Asigen, MLB Pipeline’s No. 2 international prospect and the planned centerpiece of the class, backed out of his Yankees agreement and signed with the Mets for $3.9 million.
Four more expected 2026 signees also went elsewhere: Dominican shortstop Jeyson Horton, Venezuelan catcher Jose Colina, Venezuelan right-hander Darwin Rivas and Panamanian right-hander Yilmar Samudio.
The Yankees still signed 14 players early in the period. Only six reportedly counted against their bonus pool, and eight signed for $10,000 or less. The opening-day spend came to about $660,000, roughly 12 percent of the allotment.
The Yankees hold more unused pool money than any team
As of late August, the Yankees had $2,967,500 left in their 2026 international bonus pool, according to published tallies. That was the most in baseball. No other club had more than $2 million remaining.
The pool started at $5.44 million, tied for the smallest in the majors. The Yankees lost $1 million of their allotment as a penalty for signing left-hander Max Fried as a free agent.
The 2026 signing period closes Dec. 15, and unused pool space does not carry over.
That leaves the Yankees about six weeks to commit roughly 55 percent of their allotment, or watch it expire.
The slow pace has frustrated fans who follow the farm system closely. Their complaint is simple: The Yankees have been active for 2027, 2028 and beyond, but not for the class that closes first.
Garza points the Yankees toward Asia
The biggest 2026 move so far came from Taiwan. On June 23, the Yankees signed 18-year-old right-hander Chien-Fan Lai for $872,500. The club called him the highest-rated Taiwanese pitcher in the class, with a fastball up to 95 mph and a curveball projected as plus.
Mario Garza, the Yankees’ director of international scouting, framed the deal as the start of a broader push across the Pacific.
“The signing of Chien-Fan represents our renewed commitment to players in Taiwan, and in Asia as a whole,” Garza said.
Garza also made clear where the Yankees want to invest next.
“We’re trying to broaden our footprint. We want to make Asia a priority,” Garza said.
Matt Slater, the Yankees’ global player acquisitions supervisor, echoed the message after the Lai signing.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chien-Fan to the New York Yankees family as we continue to expand our global footprint,” Slater said.
Use it or lose it: the math on the 2026 pool
The numbers show the gap.
With about $2.97 million unspent from a $5.44 million pool, the Yankees had used roughly 45 percent of their allotment with less than four months left in the period.
Lai’s $872,500 is the largest disclosed bonus in the Yankees’ 2026 class. A year earlier, the Yankees gave shortstop Mani Cedeno, MLB Pipeline’s No. 11 international prospect, $2.5 million from a $6.26 million pool.
The leftover 2026 money is more than the reported 2027 deals for Perez and Moura combined. It is also more than three times what the Yankees paid Lai.
There is one notable target still on the market. Raider Sanchez, a 20-year-old Cuban outfielder with power graded 60 to 65 on the 20-80 scale, was declared a free agent by MLB in August. Scouts from 27 organizations attended his first open workout in the Dominican Republic, and the Yankees and Padres were named among clubs to watch.
Pool space can also be traded. The Padres acquired $500,000 in international money from the Pirates this summer in a deal for reliever Ron Marinaccio.
Labor deadline adds pressure
A second date hangs over the process. The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ union expires Dec. 1, two weeks before the 2026 period ends.
A lockout could delay the start of the 2027 period, which would normally open Jan. 15. That would push back the Perez, Moura and Joh signings.
Unsigned Asian amateurs remain an option. Japanese right-hander Shoki Oda of Yokohama High School drew Yankees scouts to his practices in April, and several Taiwanese and South Korean high schoolers remain unsigned.
As of Oct. 30, Raider Sanchez had not been reported as signed, and the Yankees had about six weeks to use their remaining 2026 pool.
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