The Boston Red Sox have signed top Australian propect Daniel McGrath, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI, originally reported by @sonsofsamhorn. McGrath is a 17-year-old pitcher is reportedly deciding between attending college in the United States -- or signing a professional contract:

• Red Sox lock up highly-regarded Australian teenage pitcher Daniel McGrath - Rob Bradfor | WEEI
  "According to a major league source, the Red Sox have agreed to terms with highly-touted 17-year-old pitcher Daniel McGrath."

Red Sox sign top Australian prospect Daniel McGrath - Sons of Sam Horn
"MELBOURNE Aces manager and international scout Phil Dale believes 17-year-old Doncaster pitcher Daniel McGrath is the next on the radar to head to the US after fielding a swag of major league contracts. The explosive young talent - who made his debut on the Aces' roster last season - is choosing between going to college in the US and signing a professional contract. But it appears certain that he will join the more experienced Aces pitcher Shane Lindsay - who signed with the LA Dodgers last week - to head to the US at the completion of the Aces' season."

Brad Penny has finally signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan's Pacific League, following rumors from Jerry Crasnick that a deal was near. The deal is worth $3 million plus incentives, according to NPB tracker.

• Softbank Signs Brad Penny - NPB Tracker
  The Softbank Hawks have officially announced the acquisition of righty Brad Penny, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun (edit: confirmed on the team’s website). Penny’s deal is for one year and $3m plus performance bonuses. Sanspo adds that Penny will travel to Japan on February 8th, and join Softbank’s camp on the 9th.
• ソフトバンク、大リーグ最多勝右腕のペニー獲得 : プロ野球 : スポーツ : YOMIURI ONLINE（読売新聞）
  １メートル９３、１０４キロと巨漢で、１５０キロ超の直球に落差のあるカーブやスライダーを織り交ぜ、ゴロを打たせる投球が持ち味。ドジャース時代の２００６年に１６勝９敗でナ・リーグ最多勝を獲得した。タイガースでプレーした昨季も１１勝１１敗、防御率５・３０をマーク。メジャー通算は１１９勝９９敗。８日に宮崎入りし、翌日にキャンプに合流する。

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Cuban lefty Gerardo Concepcion is close to signing a deal with a Major League club, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. It's en espanol, but here's the relevant passage:

Jaime Torres, agente de Concepción, dijo que el juvenil lanzador zurdo tiene varias ofertas sobre la mesa y proyecta que un desenlace podría ocurrir en cualquier momento, probablemente en el fin de semana, pero más seguro la próxima semana.

A quick, junior-high level translation says: "Jaime (that's hi-may to you!) Torres, Concepción's agent, says that the young lefty has several offers on the table and one could be signed any moment, possibly this weekend, but more likely next week."

Rojas notes that while fellow Cuban-expatriate Yoenes Cepedes is likely to jump right into the Majors, Concepción will certainly see some time in the minors so he can acclimate to the competition first.

This follows rumors from earlier this week in which Concepción is rumored to be drawing interested from multiple teams.

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If you're not checking into NPB Tracker once in a while, you probably should. There isn't a better English language site around when it comes to covering Japanese baseball, and Patrick Newman is one of the best around. Today's post is a good example, as word comes from Newman that lefty pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada would like to make the jump to MLB next season now that he's reached the service time threshold to hit free agency.

Wada, 31, has been dominant for the Softbank Hawks this season in the NPB, posting a 1.80 ERA with 146 strikeouts and just 35 walks over 154 innings. According to Newman, he doesn't bring much heat, with a fastball that generally sits around 86-87 MPH, but he has strong secondary offerings in his slider and circle change.

According to Tim Dierkes of MLBTR, who spoke with Newman recently, Wada may be in line for something like a two-year, $8 million offer this winter. He likely won't be the biggest Japanese import on the market, though, with Hisashi Iwakuma and possibly Yu Darvish making the trip as well.

Mike Rabelo was never viewed as a solid Major League starting catcher, but he was once projected to be a very sufficient backup, ML backstop for a long time. He started out on the right track in his early playing days with the team that took him out of the University of Tampa in the 4^th round of the 2001 amateur draft, the Detroit Tigers.  In his first crack at big league action in 2007, he tasted success while serving as the Tigers' #2 catcher behind Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, hitting for a batting average that surpassed his previous minor league average totals.

As a result of Rabelo proving his worth to the Tigers as a quality backup catcher, he was included in the Tigers' blockbuster deal with the Florida Marlins for 6x All - Star slugger and perennial MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera as well as former NL ROY award winner and 2005 NL wins leader and NL CY Young award runner - up Dontrelle Willis. Considered a low tier ML contributor in the haul of youngsters sent to the Marlins in return for Cabby and "The D-Train", Rabelo produced very sub-par numbers in his short tenure with the Fish, only batting .202 in 34 games played in a Florida uniform. His poor, inconsistent play led to the Marlins cutting ties with him after the 2008 campaign.

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We've already seen the Rangers make one monster splash today, but apparently they're on the way to another. ESPN's Enrique Rojas, who initally reported the Nomar Mazara signing, is now reporting that the Rangers are closing in on another big-name Dominican outfielder- Ronald Guzman.

Guzman, who was ranked second on Ben Badler's forecast of the top-40 signing bonuses to be handed out to this year's class of international amateur free agents, is a similar prospect to Mazara: big-time power potential, but may be relegated to left field. The prospect projected to get the largest bonus in the class, Dominican outfielder Elier Hernandez, signed earlier this morning with the Royals for $3.05 million.

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We've already heard among some of the major deals coming out of the Latin amateur market today, but things are just getting crazier.

ESPN's Enrique Rojas announced a bit ago that the Rangers have agreed to give Dominican outfielder Nomar Mazara a signing bonus of over $5 million, setting the record for the largest bonus ever given to an amateur international free agent. Mazara, 16, is considered to be one of the best power-hitting prospects to come out of Latin America in years, with some noting that they haven't seen a better one since Miguel Cabrera or Wily Mo Pena.

There are concerns about Mazara's hitting ability, and according to this post from our Rangers blog Lone Star Ball, he's faced little live pitching, with most of the hype coming from ridiculous batting practice showcases. Lone Star Ball notes that Mazara will likely end up in left field, so clearly the Rangers are banking on a Cabrera-like development path for the slugging teenager.

Today is the first day that this year's batch of international prospects are eligible to sign with MLB teams, and we've already seen a flurry of major signings.

The Royals kicked things off this morning by announcing that they signed 16-year-old outfielder Elier Hernandez for $3.05 million, which stood as the largest signing bonus ever given to an international amateur outfielder upon being announced. Hernandez is already physically developed and shows major bat speed from the right side- he gives the Royals another elite Latin hitting prospect to join Cheslor Cuthbert, who's thriving at Single-A right now.

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