Mariners Sign Guillermo Pimentel

The Mariners signed Guillermo Pimentel to a bonus of $2MM, according to ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr.. Pimentel signed the contract as the clock struck midnight on July 2nd, the earliest moment he was eligible.

International Free Agent Update

ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure relays the latest on a pair of international players with his Twitter account.

• Cheslor Cuthbert, who agreed to terms over the weekend, will receive a bonus of about $1.2MM from the Royals.
• The Rangers appear to be closing in on Jurickson Profar.
• It looks like he'll receive a bonus of about $700k to play short.
• He could probably have received more if he'd signed as a pitcher, but he doesn't want to pitch.

Our own Mike Axisa questioned Baseball America's Ben Badler about some other international players over at River Ave. Blues:

• It looks like top Latin catching prospect Gary Sanchez will sign with the Yankees for about $3MM.
• The Mariners seem to be the favorites to sign Guillermo Pimentel.
• Ugueth Urbina's son, Juan, will likely sign with the Mets.
• Badler says Miguel Angel Sano would have gone somewhere between fourth overall and the end of the first round if he'd been eligible in this month's draft.

Odds & Ends: Sheets, Blanco, Coghlan

Links for Friday...

• RotoAuthority talks about the popular fantasy pickups this week.
• Rangers GM Jon Daniels says Ben Sheets is "watching from a distance" while recovering from elbow surgery, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
• MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan says the Rangers "apparently are in position to sign Guillermo Pimentel, a top outfield prospect from the Dominican Republic" for $1.5-2MM.
• Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe says Red Sox reliever Javier Lopez cleared waivers and will head to Triple A.
• Sam Miller of the OC Register assembled a lineup/slideshow of prospects who deserve a big league shot.
• Henry Blanco isn't sure why he wasn't able to re-sign with the Cubs, according to the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan.
• Nick Yohanek, the fan who caught Chris Coghlan's first big league home run, explains his side of the story in asking for the following for the ball: a signed Coghlan game bat, a signed Coghlan ball, and a Hanley Ramirez game bat.  What's your take on this?