The 23-year-old left-handed Czech pitcher Jan Rehacek and the Lithuanian 16-year-old Dovydas Neverauskas are the latest signings by Major League organizations.
Report on Jan Rehacek by Michal Hanus:
Jan Rehacek LHP, 23 years old, former player of Arrows Ostrava and since 2008 member of Konica Minolta Pioniers signed a professional contract with the Minnesota Twins organization. Rehacek becomes the second Arrows player in the United States besides catcher Petr Cech of the Cincinnati Reds. Rehacek joined the Pioniers in the Dutch Hoofdklasse trying to fight for a place on their roster, but thanks to his talent and faithful approach to trainings and game he became a crucial piece to the Pioniers. On May 6th at the Major League tryouts Rehacek got a chance to showcase his stuff and he was successful. He threw 30 strikes with speeds among 88 and 90 mph. Rehacek received offers from the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Indians, Cubs, Marines and Twins and selected the team from Minnesota. He already moved to Florida where he is living in Elizabeth Town, home for all Twins prospects in the sunshine state.
Pittsburgh Pirates’ beat writer Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had the scoop on Dovydas Neverauskas:
The latter is pitcher Dovydas Neverauskas, 16, of Lithuania. A 6-foot-3, 170-pound right-hander, he will begin his professional career this fall in the Florida Instructional League.
They join outfielder Max Kepler-Rozycki (Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg to Minnesota Twins) and infielder Luca Martone (Danesi Nettuno to Houston Astros) as newest members of the European community in the American Minor League system. The signing of Kepler-Rozycki became officially on Saturday, as he agreed on a signing bonus of $775.000 according to Keith Law. It is a similar amount to the bonus, Alex Smit received in 2002 from the Minnesota Twins.
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July 12, 2009 | 5:20 pm
[...] Twins also got in the mix, as http://www.mister-baseball.com/rehacek-neverauskas-latest-european-signings-mlb-clubs/ reports that the Twins have signed Czech pitcher Jan [...]