Biggest MLB Stars Signed During the International Signing Period

July 2 is a day that Major League Baseball teams look forward to every year. It is the first official day when teams can dip into the international signing pool and go after free agents from all over the world to plug into their system. 

There are always exceptions to the July 2 rule. Yasiel Puig, for example, signed before the period began last year in order to avoid being subject to the financial constraints that MLB put in place with the new collective bargaining agreement. 

Even though Puig is just one month into his career, that $42 million contract Los Angeles gave him appears to be a pretty good bargain. 

This year's crop of international talent doesn't have anyone who projects to be as exciting as Puig, but there are always going to be surprises. 

But before we start to look ahead, we wanted to take a look back at the international free agents who have made the biggest impact in Major League Baseball history.

These are only players signed during the July 2 signing period, so players like Puig and Yoenis Cespedes are not eligible.

Plus, with the different rules for Cuban defectors and other countries, it is hard to put them in the same category. (They wouldn't have made it anyway, since it is still too early to determine their legacies.)

For the purposes of this discussion, we will be following the modern international free agent rules that were implemented in 1985, thanks to the Jimy Kelly-Toronto Blue Jays situation the previous year, where a player has to be at least 17 at the end of his first professional season to sign. 

Hanley Ramirez, SS

Signed by Boston Red Sox in 2000 

Though he has had some ups and downs throughout his career, at his peak Hanley Ramirez was one of the best players in the game and an MVP candidate.

Coming up at the end of the dominant era of power hitting shortstops, Ramirez stood out for his ability to hit 25-plus homers per season and hit well over .300. 

He was Boston's top prospect for a few years before being traded to the Marlins ahead of the 2006 season in a deal that netted the Red Sox Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett.

While the Red Sox got a championship in 2007, Ramirez won NL Rookie of the Year in 2006, finished in the top 10 of MVP voting twice (2007 and 2009) and won a batting title in 2009. 

There have been instances where Ramirez was called out for his effort, especially when he was with the Marlins.

Since moving to the Dodgers midway through the 2012 season he is starting to get back the swing that made him one of the best hitters in baseball. 

Bernie Williams, OF

Signed by New York Yankees in September 1985

Since Williams was the first of the Yankees' core four—the group that also consisted of Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera—it is easy to forget just how great he was in his prime and how important he was to that run of four championships in five years at the end of the 1990s. 

Williams spent his entire 16-year career in New York, putting together a career line of .297/.381/.477 with 455 doubles, 287 home runs and a tremendous 1,212-1069 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

He also won four Gold Glove awards for his work in center field (though that was more for his offensive prowess, as he was never a good defensive player) and finished in the top 20 in MVP voting six times. 

If that's not enough, Williams is also multi-talented, having put together a successful music career after his playing days were over. 

Vladimir Guerrero, OF

Signed by the Montreal Expos in March 1993

At his peak there was not a player in baseball who was more exciting to watch than Vladimir Guerrero.

He was so great it actually made people want to watch the Montreal Expos play, just to see what he would do. 

Guerrero was a true five-tool talent, with an incredible feel for hitting, the best plate coverage I have ever seen, electric bat speed and power, the speed and smarts needed to steal bases and one of the best outfield arms you will ever see. 

When his time comes, Guerrero should walk into the Hall of Fame.

That is no small feat considering how much the 2004 AL MVP loved to take his hacks at anything remotely close to the plate, but it somehow worked for him. 

Ivan Rodriguez, C

Signed by the Texas Rangers in July 1988

Unlike a lot of players who earn Gold Glove awards simply because of their offensive prowess, Ivan Rodriguez more than earned his defensive hardware by being the preeminent catcher in baseball for more than a decade. 

Rodriguez could also hit, putting up a career line of .296/.334/.464 with 572 doubles and 311 home runs. He hit over .300 with a slugging percentage of at least .449 every year from 1995-2002, a remarkable amount of consistency for a catcher. 

We can debate the merits of his 1999 MVP award forever—yes, it should have been Pedro Martinez—but for a career, there are only two or three catchers who can say they were as good as Rodriguez and they are in the Hall of Fame (Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella). 

David Ortiz, DH

Signed by the Seattle Mariners in November 1992

Whether he is hitting walk-off home runs in the American League Championship Series, showering his teammates with love in the dugout or giving impassioned speeches with some off-color language to a city that loves him no matter what, David Ortiz is as popular as a player in baseball can possibly be. 

But it is easy to forget, especially looking at where he is now, where Ortiz was prior to the 2003 season. He was released by Minnesota after the 2002 season despite hitting a respectable .272/.339/.500 with 20 home runs in 125 games. 

Ortiz signed with the Red Sox in January 2003 as a bench player and only got inserted into the starting lineup when Jeremy Giambi couldn't hit. Two championships and 39 home runs later, Ortiz is a borderline Hall of Fame candidate if he retired today. 

Johan Santana, LHP

Signed by Houston Astros in July 1995

Johan Santana started his career as a left-handed reliever, appearing in 107 games in his first four seasons from 2000-03.

It was that last season, in which he also made 18 starts for the Twins, that would solidify his future as one of the best starting pitchers of the decade. 

Notorious for a devastating changeup and some of the best control you will see from a hard-throwing left hander, Santana parlayed his breakout 2003 season into an incredible four-year run, during which he would throw at least 219 innings each season and strikeout at least 219 with an ERA under 3.00 from 2004-06. 

Santana won two Cy Young awards, finished in the top five three other times and became the first pitcher in Mets history to throw a no-hitter in 2012.

He may not throw another pitch in the big leagues, but for a period of four years, there was no one better in baseball. 

Pedro Martinez, RHP

Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in June 1988

Pedro Martinez was part of two of the most lopsided trades in baseball history.

First he was shipped from the Dodgers to the Expos for Delino DeShields in 1993.

Martinez would evolve into a very good starter in the National League for three years before reaching levels of dominance not thought possible in an offensive era. He struck out 305 hitters with a 1.90 ERA and 13 complete games in 241.1 innings on his way to a Cy Young award in 1997. 

With the Expos unable to pay Martinez what he wanted, the Red Sox swooped in and sent Carl Pavano and Tony Armas in exchange for the then 25-year-old.

From 1998-2003, Martinez's ERA was over 2.40 just once and he had three consecutive seasons of at least 250 strikeouts, all while adding two more Cy Young awards to his mantle and finishing second two other times. 

For his entire career, Martinez had a ridiculous 3,154-760 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2,827.1 innings pitched. Yeah, the Hall of Fame will be calling him in 2015. 

Sammy Sosa, OF

Signed by the Texas Rangers in July 1985

Say what you want about Sammy Sosa now, but for a period of time in the late 1990s and early 2000s he was the biggest star in the sport and one of the most recognizable faces in this country. 

With the sport still making a comeback from the labor strike from 1994-95, Sosa and Mark McGwire's home run chase in 1998 gave baseball international headlines it hadn't seen in a long time.

The two ultimately went on to break Roger Maris' record of 61 homers in both 1998 and 1999. Sosa would also break the 60-home-run barrier in 2001, hitting 64 and finishing behind Barry Bonds' 73. 

Sosa had five consecutive seasons from 1998-2002 with at least 330 total bases. He finished in the top 10 of MVP voting all five years when his OPS+ never dipped below 151. 

Mariano Rivera, RHP

Signed by the New York Yankees in February 1990

Rivera was signed much later than most of the players on this list, not getting his first professional contract until the age of 20 in an industry where a lot of international talents are signed at 16 or 17. 

Despite the late start on his career, there may not be a more respected player in baseball history.

The fact Rivera has been able to maintain a high level of performance as a reliever, the most volatile of all positions, for 19 seasons under the microscope of New York is a testament to how great he is. 

There have been more valuable Yankees, simply because it is hard to add that much value as a one-inning pitcher, but Rivera has left an imprint on the franchise that no one will be able to replicate when he retires at the end of this year. 

Good luck to whoever gets the closer job in 2014, because you are always going to be compared to the impossible standard Rivera set. 

Miguel Cabrera, 1B/3B

Signed by the Florida Marlins in July 1999

Finally, we conclude this look at international signing history with the best hitter on the planet today. Miguel Cabrera was locked up by the Marlins for what was, in retrospect, a paltry sum of $1.9 million.

At the time it was the biggest deal ever given to a Venezuelan-born player. 

Fast forward to today, with Cabrera coming off an MVP season in 2012, four consecutive top-five finishes in MVP voting, 326 career home runs and counting, and a career line of .321/.398/.567.

All of that and he is only 30 years old. 

Cabrera came up with the Marlins in 2003, playing a key role in the franchise's second World Series win, and would hit at least 33 home runs in four of his five full seasons with the team before being shipped to Detroit.

It has not always been smooth. Cabrera had to rebuild his image following an arrest for a DUI in 2011 that shed light on some personal problems, but he appears to have gotten his life back on track, and his career has flourished like never before. 

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