Colorado Rockies sign Dominican teenage third baseman Gabriel Corporan, per reports

The Colorado Rockies signed 17-year-old third base prospect Gabriel Corporan out of the Dominican Republic on Thursday, according to reports from RockiesRoster.com. The Santo Domingo native had been trained by Jaime Ozuna. Terms of the deal were not available at time of publication.

Listed at 6'2", 195 lbs. by one publication, and at 6'5", 200 lbs. by another, Corporan has good size for a teenager regardless of which one of those reports is true, and he profiles as a power-hitting third baseman. Even though he's only 17, Corporan has been on the prospect radar for several years; he was part of the Dominican Republic's Louisville Slugger Tournament Series as a 15-year-old back in 2014, according to Bleacher Report.

At the time, B/R's Rob Goldberg wrote of Corporan:

Corporan has the power to hit the ball out of any ballpark and is already showing what he can do against inferior pitching. Still, the third baseman's swing is based on timing with a big leg kick, something that will lead to problems when he faces good breaking balls. The good news, though, is that this part is teachable.

On the other hand, you cannot teach size or strength, and Corporan has enough of both to be a legitimate power hitter in the majors. This will almost certainly be enough to land him a contract at the next level.

Back in that same January 2014 period, Kiley McDaniel—then with Scout—also reported on Corporan's showing at the Tournament Series, writing:

Other players that stood out included 3B Gabriel Corporan, who is among the youngest of the top prospects from today and won't be eligible to sign until his 16th birthday on August 11th; he gets attention for his live body and above average bat speed.

As to be expected with a teenage power hitter, there are approach concerns around Corporan at the plate that will need to be ironed out, as Minor League Ball's Matt Garrioch reported back in July 2014:

Good power potential from a physically mature build. Too much of a pull approach now. Stocky body could be a concern down the line but he has a solid line drive swing and should hit for average power.

Here's some video on Corporan—again, from 2014:

But that's the strange thing about Corporan—we haven't heard hardly anything of him since 2014.

While it's not uncommon for there to be very little information about teenagers first signed out of the Dominican Republic, it's interesting that Corporan had so much prospect buzz two years ago when he was 15 and couldn't yet legally sign, only to see him not land with a team after his 16th birthday and then completely disappear from baseball scouting reports in the 18 months since.

Nevertheless, it appears he's part of the Rockies' organization now. We'll have more on Corporan this spring as information becomes available.