Via Matt Eddy: The Yankees have signed Polish left-hander Artur Strzalka. He is the first player born and raised in Poland to sign a professional contract with one of the 30 MLB clubs. No word on his signing bonus, but I assume it is relatively small. There would have been a ton of reports had it been significant.
Strzalka, 18, will report to Instructional League in the Dominican Republic after the season according to Mister Baseball. He will come stateside next year. Strzalka will play in the B-Level European Championship in Germany later this month before heading to the MLB European Academy (also in Germany) in August. I can’t find a scouting report anyway, but chances are this is a signing that has more to do with establishing a presence in Poland than landing a legitimate big league prospect. As with Dan Vavrusa (the Czech catcher the team signed two years ago) or the two Chinese players they signed in 2007, the Yankees are getting their foot in the door. Pretty neat.
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