Mariners sign Pedro Okuda to a Minor deal

It is announced that the Mariners signed 19-year-old amateur Pedro Okuda to a Minor League contract on Wednesday.
Okuda is expected to join the Mariners' Venezuela Academy after he graduates from high school this spring and will play during the 2010 season in the mariners jersey. Okuda was born and raised in Brazil but attended high school in Japan. Yasushi Yamamoto and Pat Kelly, the Mariners scouts first found Okuda in a youth tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2006.

"Pedro is a player that we have been scouting for several years, beginning when he participated in the Brazilian Baseball Confederation Academy in Brazil and most recently in Japan, where he is concluding his high school education," Mariners vice president of international operations Bob Engle said. "Thanks to the efforts of Yasushi Yamamoto and Pat Kelly, we have added a player who has proven to be an action player with a line-drive swing and plus speed. Pedro is a player who has a lot of spirit and enthusiasm, and we look forward to watching him develop in the Seattle Mariners' organization."