The Kansas City Royals have yet again taken advantage of the Atlanta Braves scandal, this time by signing speedy center fielder Juan Carlos Negret.

The Kansas City Royals are known for making a splash in the international market. Earlier this week they signed a RHP from the Dominican Republic named Yefri del Rosario from the Braves organization. Now they have signed an 18-year old center fielder that hails from La Habana, Cuba, by the name of Juan Carlos Negret.

Negret has only one professional season under his belt, 50 games in the DSL in 2017. In the DSL, Negret slashed .264/.410/.391/.801 with 2 HR and 23 SB in 174 AB. The impressive part here is clearly Negret’s ability to get on base and run like the wind when he does. Scouting reports on Negret rave about his speed and big arm in CF.

This appears to be another awesome signing by Dayton Moore and the Royals front office. While it’s probably too early to judge Negret as a prospect, boy oh boy does he look good. Here’s a couple of videos of Negret at the plate:

That’s a pretty clean looking swing. Not a ton of moving parts, fast hands, I really like what I see from Juan Carlos here, and the numbers back up the pretty swing. Standing at only 6′ 1″ 190 lbs., it’s a little early to tell what kind of power Negret could hit for. Luckily for KC he’s still 18 with plenty of time to fill out, and his speed may make up for a lack of power anyways.

In any case, this is another exciting signing that ought to excite Royals fans. There’s a reason Atlanta was willing to stretch the legal bounds to sign this kid, and I’m sure KC will get a good look at him next summer. I expect Juan Carlos to begin the year with rookie affiliate Burlington, much like Seuly Matias did in 2017, but with a strong performance he could find himself in Lexington before the end of the summer. Juan Carlos doesn’t turn 19 until next June.

Photo Credits: Peter G. Aiken—USA Today Sports