Angels could take advantage of Yankees’ loss of international bonus money

The Angels are either last, or real close to last, on most reputable sites' team prospect rankings, but it appears the organization will be bolstering their pipeline soon. The Angels might have lucked out recently, and could be landing one of the prizes of the 2026 international prospects group in the form of a shortstop from the Dominican Republic named Yeison Horton. It appears that the Yankees can no longer afford Horton and had to release their agreement, given that they lost $1 million of their international bonus pool money as a penalty for signing Max Fried and his attached qualifying offer.

Angels could take advantage of Yankees’ loss of international bonus money

There is a report that the Angels inked Horton to a deal in the $2 million range, although that is unverified. Given that he is in the class of 2026, this would be a verbal commitment between the two sides. Horton was supposedly signing with the Yankees for $3.3 million, so the Angels could be getting an incredibly talented youngster at a discount. Adding another talented shortstop is never a bad thing, and he is set to join other top international shortstop prospects in the Angels pipeline like Joswa Lugo, Denzer Guzman, Felix Morrobel, and Capri Ortiz.

The Angels' top signing in the last international class was Gabriel Davalillo from Venezuela-- a gigantic 17-year-old with great pop who has the look of an every day catcher one day. He is widely viewed as the no. 1 catcher, and (like Horton) a top-20 overall player from the 2025 class of signees. Given how the Angels handle their prospects, do not be surprised to see both Davalillo and Horton at major league camp in the next 2-3 years like you are with guys like Juan Flores, Dario Laverde, and Randy De Jesus.

When a franchise's major league team has not made the playoffs in a decade and its minor league pipeline is still universally scorned...it's not in a good place to be in whatsoever. Adding a player like Horton, even if he is miles and miles away from ever being relevant for the team, is a break the Angels needed. The Angels will be receiving the second pick of every round of the 2025 MLB Draft, and hopefully those draftees, coupled with a stacked international signing class, can spearhead a major turnaround for this woeful organization.

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