This story was excerpted from Jake Rill¡¯s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- For the past six years, Koby Perez has overseen the Orioles¡¯ international scouting department -- a department that was essentially nonexistent before he was brought on by general manager Mike Elias only two months after Elias¡¯ hiring.

Perez, Baltimore¡¯s vice president of international scouting and operations, helped turn the O¡¯s into players on the international market. The organization¡¯s Minor League pipeline is now filled with talent from all over the world, with some -- such as catcher Samuel Basallo (the Orioles¡¯ No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 13 overall) -- getting close to the Majors.

The O¡¯s added 22 more players to their international program on Wednesday, the first day of this year¡¯s international signing period. The class was headlined by Dominican shortstop Jos¨¦ Pe?a, who received $1 million of Baltimore¡¯s pool money (totaling $6.9 million).

In case you missed it, MLB Pipeline¡¯s Jesse Borek wrote more about Pe?a (MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 47 international prospect in the 2025 class) in a story on Wednesday.

Here are some of the other notable players in the Orioles¡¯ latest international signing class.

Johanse G¨®mez, OF, U.S. Virgin Islands -- $747,500

G¨®mez was born in St. Thomas, but the 17-year-old has spent most of his teenage years in the Dominican Republic, where his parents are from. He is bilingual (Spanish and English), which puts him ¡°a little bit ahead of the game as far as being able to communicate and adapting to the USA,¡± Perez said.

A toolsy athlete who likely profiles as a corner outfielder, G¨®mez¡¯s top tool is his power, which should continue to develop as he gets into Baltimore¡¯s player development system.

¡°We really like his bat, we think his bat is going to play. He¡¯s a big, strong kid, and they¡¯re young, so sometimes they get very big, as we know,¡± Perez said. ¡°We feel good about the bat.¡±

Meykel Baro, INF, Cuba -- $497,500
Ronald Terrero, INF, Cuba -- $397,500
Yeison Acosta, C, Cuba -- $372,500
Yunior Villavicencio, LHP, Cuba -- $37,500

The Orioles signed four players out of Cuba, which Perez credited to the work that his scouting team put in during recent years.

¡°These Cuban players, we see them in 13-U tournaments, 14-U tournaments, throughout the world when they play in Asia and South America,¡± Perez said. ¡°So now, being that we¡¯ve been here over five years, we¡¯ve got track records where we can make decisions on these players. In Cuba, they play a lot of baseball, so we¡¯re able to have a lot of statistics from youth leagues and feel comfortable about them when they choose to defect and we try to capitalize on that, knowing them from the international tournaments.¡±

The top Cuban joining Baltimore¡¯s pipeline may be Baro, a 16-year-old from Havana who projects as a potential five-tool player in the future.

¡°We feel that it¡¯s a bat shortstop with defensive tools, athletic ability,¡± Perez said of Baro. ¡°He¡¯s got all the ingredients, and we think with our system that we have in place as far as player development, he can be a special-type player.¡±

Ricardo Chirinos, C, Venezuela -- $107,500

This last name should be familiar to Orioles fans. That¡¯s because the Venezuelan catcher¡¯s uncle is Robinson Chirinos, the former big league backstop who was hired to be the O¡¯s bench coach earlier this offseason.

The elder Chirinos has returned to Baltimore, where he spent the final season of his 11-year MLB tenure in 2022. Now, his 16-year-old nephew will try to get there in the future, as he¡¯ll begin his professional career in the Orioles¡¯ system.