{"id":94299,"date":"2025-01-22T01:04:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T06:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=94299"},"modified":"2025-01-22T01:05:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T06:05:55","slug":"top-ranked-international-prospect-manny-cedeno-yankees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/22\/top-ranked-international-prospect-manny-cedeno-yankees\/","title":{"rendered":"International Infield Prospect Manny Cede\u00f1o Expected to Sign with Yankees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Major League Baseball\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/31\/prospects-yankees-pursue-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">international signing period<\/a> is well underway. The festivities began on January 15th and ball clubs are beginning to stack their organizations with foreign-born talent. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York Yankees have a few names in mind in their shopping cart. A young shortstop named Manny Cede\u00f1o may be the top priority.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The market is hot this year, as it is every year. Talents from Central America, the Caribbean, and Japan are among the top-represented regions. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like most teams, the Yankees will prioritize <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/20\/yankees-high-expectations-jasson-dominguez\/\" target=\"_self\">position players<\/a> in this department, as they did last year with some huge infield and outfield signings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/17\/michael-arias-yankees-pitching-prospects\/\" target=\"_self\">Pitching<\/a> can be a great target from the international pool as well. However, pitching in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/29\/yankees-brock-selvidge-could-fast-track-majors-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">amateur draft<\/a> is far more relevant, as those players will have more experience against top-tier collegiate or high school competition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, Cede\u00f1o will be the Yankees&#8217; focus for this class and he\u2019s expected to sign this week, It is believed that Cede\u00f1o has a verbal agreement with the Yankees, and should be in pinstripes if things go as planned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud83c\udf99\ufe0fManny Cede\u00f1o (NYY Top IFA) putting in work before his official signing day! <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/RepBx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#RepBx<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Yankees?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Yankees<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ttp2DClhwV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Ttp2DClhwV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 YankeesFarm (@YankeesFarm) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YankeesFarm\/status\/1881770195129381329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><strong>International Prospect Manny Cede\u00f1o: Background\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manny Cede\u00f1o originates from San Pedro de Macoris in. the Dominican Republic. The international scouting departments of most MLB clubs have recognized the talents of the 16-year-old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/milb\/prospects\/2025\/international\/manny-cedeno-829041\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MLB Pipeline<\/a> has Cede\u00f1o ranked 11th out of their top 50 international prospects, and rightfully so. The young infielder is also a part of MLB\u2019s trainer partnership program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Dominican talent plays shortstop; one of many to emerge from his hometown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Evaluation and Synopsis<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 16-year-old middle infielder has an athletic form, standing at a height of 5\u201911\u201d and weighing in at 181 pounds. Nine months ago compared to the present day shows a significant change in his physical maturity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cede\u00f1o has developed stronger and has filled out muscularly in the entirety of his body. This physical change has been reflected in his fundamentals and tools, making those more impactful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AhoPXAJ5O1E?si=Q0iOIyrPyq2mG4WO\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He is already showing a lot of potential, as his tools come from both sides of the game. His ability to hit and play his position makes him extremely valuable and is what puts him within the top 15 names of the pool.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Offensive Breakdown<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cede\u00f1o has a presence at the plate, with a noticeable size and athletic structure. He digs in with confidence and deploys a healthy and consistent swing, with a good bat path and compact approach.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The infielder has great bat speed and uses his hands and lower half well to turn on it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He&#8217;s able to connect both the inner and outer parts of the plate, making his two-strike approach effective, and raising his contact ability. His swing is level and more of a line-drive swing, but he can definitely put the ball over the wall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cede\u00f1o is loose, relaxed, and focused in the box. His fundamentals and kinetics are key, as his load and weight transfer are very healthy and workable. He\u2019s shown raw power, and the ability to place the ball gap-to-gap, with the pull side being his strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the plate, his job will primarily be to compile extra-base hits and work the defense on hard contact rips off the barrel. His baseline skills as a hitter could be enhanced really quickly at the minor league levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Defense is Key to a Wholesome Evaluation\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His tools in the hole are also impressive. The shortstop flashes leather with soft hands, quick pick-up, and snap reactions. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His arm is a plus to his profile and is evidently strong and reliable. He\u2019s able to cover ground with quick feet and agility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evaluators see a lot of potential in Cede\u00f1o defensively. It is understood that second base is always an option if shortstop does not pan out. However, h<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">e\u2019s expected to excel at his position while presenting a strong bat. He could get a quick promotion once he&#8217;s in the minor league system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Major League Baseball\u2019s international signing period is well underway. The festivities began on January 15th and ball clubs are beginning to stack their organizations with foreign-born talent. The New York Yankees have a few names in mind in their shopping cart. A young shortstop named Manny Cede\u00f1o may be the top priority.\u00a0 The market is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5126,"featured_media":94304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,926],"tags":[5481,28871,1308],"class_list":["post-94299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yankees","category-milb","tag-international-signings","tag-manny-cedeno","tag-mlb-prospects"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94306,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94299\/revisions\/94306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}