Pittsburgh Pirates sign Dutch talent to seven year deal

The Pittsburgh Pirates and eighteen-year old Paul Brands have signed a seven year deal. The Dutch infielder recently debuted in the Dutch Hoofdklasse with Vaessen Pioniers from Hoofddorp.
He is one of the talents that is coming from the APPM Rabbits baseball academy, located in Haarlem.

Tomorrow Brands will leave for Bradenton in Florida to prepare himself for the upcoming season. It is expected that he iwll start the season with the Gulf Coast Pirates (Rookie League).

Paul has won the Ron Fraser award last season as he was voted as the most promising youth player, when he hit .300 for the Rookie team (farm team) of Vaessen Pioniers.  Paul Brands is the first player from the APPM Rabbits academy that has signed a contract with a US club.

Another Dutch player that plays in the Pirates’ organization is catcher Danny Arribas, who played for the Bristol Pirates (Rookie level Appalachian League) last season.