Toronto Blue Jays sign free agent 6'6 left-handed pitcher

According to team's transaction log, they have signed left-handed pitcher Celwin Hurkmans to a minor league contract.

Hurkmans is a 17-year old from Velsen, Netherlands, who most recently had been a two-way player for Kinheim, a Dutch baseball and softball based in Haarlem, North Holland.

Although very little information is available, it is likely that Hurkmans signed as an international free agent, making him one of the last IFAs to sign before the current ends this weekend.

Baseball has always been popular in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and many players from its Caribbean territories, including current major leaguers Xander Bogaerts and Jurickson Profar, as well as Hall of Fame candidate Andruw Jones, have ha wildly successful careers.

But it's also been popular on the Dutch mainland. Hall of fame pitcher Bert Blyleven was born in Zeist, though he moved to the US when he was two years old.

The Blue Jays themselves have had several Dutch players including current minor league catcher Keegan Pieternella and former farmhand Sem Robberse, who is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery while playing in Triple-A for the St. Louis Cardinals.

A signing like Hurkmans may not have much effect on the Blue Jays immediate future, but like so many IFAs, he is a low-cost, low-risk, investible signing that could pay huge dividends 5-10 years down the road.

Welcome to Toronto Celwin.