Diamondbacks Hire New Latin American Scouting Director

The Diamondbacks have hired Cesar Geronimo Jr., who spent the last four years with the Cardinals as an international crosschecker, as their new Latin American scouting director.

During Geronimo’s time with St. Louis, the Cardinals built a strong pipeline of Latin American prospects. Righthander Alex Reyes is the team’s top prospect, while righthanders Sandy Alcantara, Junior Fernandez and Alvaro Seijas, outfielder Magneuris Sierra and shortstop Edmundo Sosa are among the players the Cardinals signed while Geronimo was with the organization.

Prior to joining the Cardinals, Geronimo scouted for the Indians since 2006, mostly scouting Latin America but spending a year as an area scout in Arizona covering the four corners. He had previously worked as an agent with Proformance. He is the son of former major league outfielder Cesar Geronimo, who played 15 years in the big leagues, mostly with the Reds in the ’70s.

While the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement will set the new international rules, 2017 will be the first year since 2014-15 that the Diamondbacks will be free from international signing restrictions. The Diamondbacks went over their 2014-15 international bonus pool by signing Cuban righthander Yoan Lopez for $8.26 million in January 2015. As a result, the Diamondbacks have been unable to sign any players subject to the international bonus pools for more than $300,000 during the 2015-16 signing period, which opened on July 2 last year, or the 2016-17 period, which opened on July 2 this year and ends on June 15, 2017.