As expected, the New York Mets signed Luis Carpio today, a shortstop that hails from Venezuela. The Mets had to wait until today to sign the shortstop because today is his 16th birthday. The signing of the 30th best prospect in the July 2nd mix was first reported by Ben Badler of Baseball America.

In his scouting report of Carpio, Badler states that the 6-foot, 165-pound ballplayer has been viewed as one of the more underrated prospects in Latin America, and displays his solid bat control and pitch recognition more against live pitching than in batting practice. Here’s what else Badler said about Carpio:

Carpio has improved his strength, bat speed and running times. He ran the 60-yard dash in 6.8 seconds in January, but multiple clubs have clocked him at 6.6 seconds recently. He’s at least a plus runner under way, though he doesn’t have a quick first step and doesn’t get out of the box quickly. He is a good athlete who will start his career at shortstop but may end up at second base or center field. His hands are solid, but his footwork needs improvement, and he has a fringe-average arm.

Scouts describe Carpio as a scrappy gamer whom managers will love because he plays hard and does a lot of things well. The Mets are one of the teams that have been bearing down on Carpio, who trains with Andres Mujica, and look like the frontrunners to sign him once he becomes eligible on July 11.

New York agreed to sign Carpio for $300,000, and this is their first major international signing since July 2nd. In addition to today’s signing, New York also added the following players:

• Ali Sanchez: $690,000
• Yeffry de Aza: $475,000
• Luis Silva: $275,000