Dodgers sign Mexican RHP Bernardo Reyes, 17, plus some Yasiel Puig news

The L.A. Daily News' J.P. Hoornstra reported today the Dodgers signed yet another international youngster: Bernardo Reyes, a 17-year-old from Sonora, Mexico.

Roberto Baly had this to say about the signing:

"The Dodgers signed 17-year-old RHP Bernardo Reyes out of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico. He's close to (turning) 18 years (old) and is the first player to be sold from the David Gonzalez academy of Tijuana. David is the father of Dodgers first (baseman) Adrian Gonzalez.

By signing directly to a MLB club, Reyes might never play in Mexico. You see, Mexican teams (Liga Mexicana de Beisbol) prefer to sign players and put them in a academy and then sell them to MLB teams. Mexican teams usually keep most of the profit. By doing what Reyes did, he will most likely be put in a black list among Mexican owners."

Baly would add Reyes was scouted by Mike Brito, the man responsible for signing Fernando Valenzuela and, more recently, the first Dodger scout to see Yasiel Puig in action.

They also signed four players last week: catcher Dashenko Ricardo, who caught for the Netherlands World Baseball Classic squad, shortstop Dennis Santana and left-handed pitcher Cesar Romero. They also officially signed shortstop Carlos Aquino, which was first brought up in late January.

Earlier this winter, Eric Stephen approximated the Dodgers had likely spent a little more than $2 million of their allotted $2.9 million international signing pool.

Speaking of Puig...

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports wrote an interesting article on Puig, stating the Cuban slugger should begin the season with the Dodgers.

A few interesting excerpts from the piece.

"The scout, who has seen Puig twice, bases his opinion more on look than results. He recognizes the absurdity of Puig's numbers, though he doesn't quite understand those trying to argue it's coming against inferior competition. His contention is correct. In 26 at-bats against pitchers expected to start the season in the minor leagues, Puig is hitting .461/.444/.731. In 22 at-bats against major league pitchers, he is .591/.565/1.000."

... and 

"'I take nothing from spring training,' Dodgers utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. said. 'It really means nothing. For a young guy, it's good to make an impression. But I've seen too many guys with monster springs you never hear from again.

'"Thing is, that's not going to happen with him.'"

... and (re: trading Andre Ethier to make room for Puig)

"'Send me Ethier and $85 million,' said one GM, referring to the amount owed on the right fielder's five-year contract, 'and I'll give you whoever you want.'"

... and finally

"And considering it's so early in the Puig annals, maybe some piece of The Legend will turn out to be true. Maybe, just maybe, Puig can do anything.

'Hey, Puig,' reliever Peter Moylan said. 'Can you play shortstop?'

'Shortstop?' Puig said. 'That's easy, papi.'"

It's the question that just won't go away. We'll see what happens.

Photo credit: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue