2016 Player Profiles: Pedro Baez

Pedro Baez continues Real Salt Lake’s trend of recruiting high caliber talent at a young age. The corner stone of this movement is the academy, but Baez joining the squad signaled that the scouting staff is looking beyond its organizational confines. The Claret-and-Cobalt are continuing to build for the future, and it is that reason Baez was brought in.

Baez played a mere five minutes for the first team, not really enough time at all to see what he brings to the table but suggested that he has at least impressed the coaching staff enough to warrant time on the field. Instead, most of his contributions came during his time at the Monarchs where he scored two goals in 419 minutes. The young attacker looked strong keeping 45 percent of all shots on target.

For Baez, 2016 was a great start to what RSL can only hope to be a piece to the puzzle as they drive to get younger. Not only did the freshman forward manage to make the most of meaningful match minutes that only help in his development, but Baez provided depth in the attack – something that was at times lacking with the loan of Devon Sandoval and the injury of Emery Welshman.

To secure Pedro Baez, RSL has to do it for a low transfer fee and a low salary cap hit. If they are able to enlist his services for the long-term, Baez would strive to gain more match minutes to aid in his professional development for 2017. Maintaining a consistent presence for the USL side will definitely aid RSL as they look to strengthen an attacking corps that scored only two goals in their final six matches.