The international signing period is set to open Thursday, but the Yankees’ biggest move may be finding someone to eventually run that department.
After letting go of longtime international scouting director Donny Rowland earlier this offseason, the Yankees are now interviewing candidates for the job, including former Astros international scouting director Oz Ocampo, multiple sources confirmed to The Post on Tuesday.
Ocampo ran the Astros’ international scouting department from 2012-17, a period in which they signed future major league pitchers like Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia and Bryan Abreu.
He later spent time in the Pirates’ front office as a special assistant and most recently served as the Marlins’ assistant GM under then-GM Kim Ng, the former Yankees executive under Brian Cashman.
As they work toward finding Rowland’s successor, the Yankees are expected to have a fairly quiet international signing period.
They have a bonus pool of $5.44 million, which is tied for the lowest in the majors, but are not in line to sign any of Baseball America’s Top 100 international prospects.
They were originally expected to land top shortstop Wandy Asigen, but last month the 16-year-old backed out of his agreement with the Yankees following Rowland’s departure and agreed to sign with the Mets for $3.8 million.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
