Giants Get Their Guy as Joshuar de Jesus Gonzalez Leads 2025 International Class

The Giants believe they got the top 16-year-old on this year’s international free agent market in inking shortstop Joshuar de Jesus Gonzalez to a deal reported to be around $3 million dollars. “He is the complete package,” Giants’ Senior International Scouting Director, Joe Salermo, said over a Zoom call, “and we’re very excited to see have him.”

With the Giants’ leadership changing at the top, new President of Baseball Operations, Buster Posey, and new GM, Zack Minasian, have talked about wanting to develop well-rounded baseball players who can help the club win in a lot of different ways. To Salermo, Gonzalez fits this new vision perfectly. “He's a switch hitter, quick hands, quick stroke. He'll bring plus skills at shortstop with a 70 arm. And he's a 60, 70 runner… He can help you win with a home run. He can help you win with a stolen base. He can help you win with his speed, because he can score from first base on a ball hit to the gaps. He can help you with your defense — save the game-winning run by his athleticism at short. So, yeah, he could help you in many ways.”

That view of Gonzalez, who was the premier player on a Dominican Republic 18U team that featured mostly older players, is shared by many other evaluators beyond the Giants, as the many reports of his signing made clear: