Texas Rangers sign J-2 catcher David Garcia

The Texas Rangers have signed David Garcia, a 16 year old Venezuelan catcher, today, the first day you can sign newly eligible J-2 players.

We wrote about Garcia, who has been rumored for a while to land with Texas, here a few weeks ago.  Garcia is apparently getting an $800,000 signing bonus.  With the Rangers having an international pool this year of $2,157,400, that leaves them a little under $1.5 million for additional signings.  Teams can also trade for additional bonus slots from other teams.

Garcia was ranked #7 in this year's J-2 class by Baseball America.  A J-2 class refers to the July 2 date of each year when 16 year old international free agents become eligible to sign professional contracts.

Texas usually uses most of its pool, so I would expect there to be more signings coming down the pike, though Garcia is, by most indications, the jewel of the team's signing class this year.

UPDATE -- Per Ben Badler, the Rangers have also signed outfielder Danny Drullard out of the Dominican Republic for $100,000.

UPDATE -- The Rangers have also signed, per Jeff Wilson, outfielder Daniel Quinceo, of Colombia, and outfielder Angel Aponte, IF Emir Velasquez, and SS Jember Gutierrez, all of Venezuela.