Brewers Sign Venezuelan SS Jackson Chourio To Open Int’l Class

The International Signing Period has been pushed back from it’s normal date on July 2nd because of the restrictions from the pandemic to January 15th. Now that the period has finally begun, the Brewers are able to officially sign these youngsters from around the world.

The first international signee the Brewers are bringing in is Jackson Chourio, a shortstop from Venezuela. According to Jesse Sanchez, Chourio will get a $1.9MM signing bonus.

Chourio ranked 18th on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top international prospects and 15th on Baseball America’s list.

The Brewers have a very strong presence in the Venezuelan baseball scene. The big league club consists of current players like Orlando Arcia, Manny Pina, Avisail Garcia, and Omar Narvaez from Venezuela and several former players including Hernan Perez, Jhoulys Chacin, and Jesus Aguilar.

Also, the Brewers have signed several Venezuelan players on the international market in recent years, including some highly ranked prospects such as Hedbert Perez, Luis Medina, Carlos Rodriguez, Eduardo Garcia, and Jeferson Quero.

Jackson Chourio, SS, Venezuela

Chourio is the latest in a long line of talent from Venezuela to the Brewers. Chourio’s big tool is his bat, and Pipeline gives him an above-average grade for both his hit tool and power tool. His approach at the plate is said to be pretty advanced, especially for his age, and he’s a very mature kid.

Since Jackson Chourio is just 16 years old, there’s still a lot of physical development and talent development left to go, and it’s going to be several years before we’d see Chourio up with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Defensively, he should be able to stick at shortstop moving forward, possessing a strong arm and good range. He also could handle centerfield if needed.

Even though he’s a far way away from the big leagues, adding a shortstop with projected plus-power and a plus-hit tool that can stick up the middle is always a good idea. Provided that offensive potential shows up, Chourio could find himself moving up some top Brewers prospects lists in the future.

Chourio should play in the Dominican Summer League this year and fans will get their first look at him there.

The International Class

The Brewers have $6,431,000 to spend on this year’s international class, and Chourio himself just took $1.9MM of that.

There are several other prospects the Brewers will be signing over the next few days, possibly even by the end of today. According to Baseball America, there are seven other players, most of them from Venezuela but a few from the Dominican Republic, that the Brewers are expected to sign in this class.

Chourio is currently the highest ranked prospect of this group and he will get the biggest bonus, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be the best player that comes out of it. In 2019, Luis Medina signed with the Brewers for the largest amount of money in that year’s class, but Hedbert Perez has already surpassed him in terms of prospect evaluation.

These players are several years away, but can impact the big league club in a big way going forward. Orlando Arcia was once a little known international signee back in 2010, and look at where he is now.

With both the international signing period opening and the deadline for arbitration figures on Friday, this figures to be a busy day in baseball news.