Rangers Agree To Sign Shortstop Keithron Moss

Keithron Moss, a 16-year-old shortstop from the Bahamas, has agreed to sign with the Rangers for $800,000.

Moss is 5-foot-10, 170 pounds and a switch-hitter with 70 speed on the 20-80 scouting scale. He’s mostly a line-drive hitter with gap power and a bit more sock from the right side of the plate, and clubs highest on Moss saw him perform well in games.

Moss trained at the The Max D Sports Academy, a program that has produced several Bahamian prospects in recent years including Rays shortstop Lucius Fox and Diamondbacks outfielder Kristian Robinson, another 2017 signing.

After making a run on Shohei Ohtani, the Rangers had one of the biggest international bonus pools left for the current 2017-18 signing period at around $3.5 million. Since Ohtani picked the Angels, the Rangers have signed Moss and shortstop Yenci Pena, a former Braves prospect whose contract was voided last month as part of the Atlanta’s penalties for international signing violations. By MLB’s rules for those ex-Braves prospects, only $475,000 of Pena’s $675,000 bonus will count toward the Rangers’ bonus pool.

Texas’ 2017-18 international signing class also includes Venezuelan shortstop Keyber Rodriguez (the No. 24 international prospect), Venezuelan righthander Orcelis Gomez and Mexican righthander Damian Mendoza, among others.