Kaito Yuki is headed to the Kansas City Royals organization instead of attending high school in Japan.

The team signed Yuki, a 16-year-old pitcher, out of junior high to a standard seven-year minor league contract Sunday. He is thought to be the first Japanese junior high school player to sign with a major league club.

"I wanted to play in the United States as soon as possible, rather than playing high school ball at Koshien Stadium (in Japan's iconic national championship)," Yuki said in a Royals press release.

The New York Yankees signed Rafael Severino, the 19-year-old brother of Luis Severino, on Monday.

The right-hander will report to New York's academy in the Dominican Republic.

"He was flipping out. He didn't believe it," Luis Severino said.

According to Luis, Rafael already has a changeup and sinker in addition to his fastball and slider.

The San Francisco Giants signed 11 international prospects on Monday, including power-hitting shortstop Marco Luciano out of the Dominican Republic.

Luciano, 16, is regarded as one of the top international prospects in the 2018 class.

All of the contracts are pending physicals.