Detroit Tigers reportedly make international signing in shortstop Alvaro Gonzalez

Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila reportedly a prospect to the team’s minor league system. According to a MLB.com article, the team has reportedly inked Venezuelan shortstop Alvaro Gonzalez.

Detroit Tigers fans haven’t seen the team make much of an impact signing international amateur free agents.

The team has made more of an impact in the draft and through trades, but now it looks like things could be changing somewhat.

It’s obviously still early in the grand scheme of things, but the Tigers reportedly added some amateur international talent via free agency on Sunday.

According to an MLB.com article by columnist Jesse Sanchez, Detroit inked shortstop Alvaro Gonzalez to a contract.

MLB.com’s international prospect rankings have the 16-year-old as the 23^rd-best prospect available.

Additionally, Baseball America’s international signing tracker page reported that the Tigers have also signed fellow shortstop Carlos Irigoyen from Venezuela and shortstop Yonneiry Acevedo from the Dominican Republic.

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The same tracker notes that Gonzalez is the 39^th-best prospect, while Irigoyen is the 43^rd-best prospect.

Hopefully the signings of Gonzalez, Irigoyen and Acevedo are a sign of things to come for Detroit.

The franchise could certainly use an influx of talent in the minors, and adding players like the aforementioned trio will help Detroit achieve sustained success in the future.

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With the team looking to trim payroll over time, bringing in players like this will be key in keeping the cupboard stocked with quality talent instead of having to rely on trades and free agency.

Shortstop depth

Purely from a positional standpoint, the additions of Gonzalez, Irigoyen and Acevedo will help with the team’s shortstop depth in the future.

The Tigers currently have Jose Iglesias and Dixon Machado at the Major League level. While Machado looks like a long-term piece given that he’s controllable through 2022 (according to Spotrac). Iglesias is slated to hit free agency after the 2018 campaign.

Looking down into the minors, Detroit is considerably thin at the shortstop position.

The Tigers are thin on position player prospects in general, but shortstop stands out as a long-term position of need.

Detroit has A.J. Simcox in Double-A, but he’s batting just .237 with a .275 on-base percentage and a .635 OPS for the SeaWolves.

Elsewhere, the team has Danny Pinero, a ninth-round pick in 2016 at West Michigan and Cole Peterson, a 13^th-round pick in 2017 at Connecticut, but that’s about it in terms of prospects.

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Of course, the team could always add talent via trade, but the reported signings of the three shortstops give Detroit some much-needed depth for the future.