The Seattle Mariners have signed the 16-year-old left-handed pitcher Luiz Gohara to a seven-year minor league contract. He receives reportedly an $800,000 signing bonus, the largest for a player from Brazil ever. The southpaw comes from Sao Paolo and was scouted by MLB representatives since he was 14 years old.
In 2011 Gohara played for Brazil at the IBAF 16U Baseball World Championship in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico. In four appearances he picked up a 1-0 record with a perfect ERA of 0.00, allowing one unearned run on three hits and two walks in 7 1/3 innings, striking out eight.
Gohara has a fastball, which reaches 96 miles per hour, ad interest from at least 12 teams and eventually decided to sign with the Mariners. He will travel to Arizona to get acclimated before being assigned to a Rookie league team. It is another milestone for Brazilian baseball. This year Yan Gomez became the first player from Brazil to play Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays.
