Tomorrow marks the start of the international free agent signing period. With the new CBA, teams are restricted to a 2.9 millions dollar cap to sign international free agents. In addition to the 2.9 million cap, teams can sign 6 additional players to 50,000 or less and an unlimited amount to bonuses under 7,500. The players that will sign this week are the age of high school sophomores so there is a lot more projection and less consensus in ranking players than in the draft. MLB.com and baseball america have put top 20 lists. Out of the BA top 20 listed below the Astros have been connected to#11 Rosario,# 15 Grullon,and #19 de la Rosa. Rumors of deals are already coming out and Rosario is rumored to have agreed to a 1.7 million dollars deal with the NY Mets. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2012/2613623 1. Franklin Barreto, ss/cf, Venezuela 2. Luis Torrens, c, Venezuela (video) 3. Jose Mujica, rhp, Venezuela (video) 4. Alexander Palma, of, Venezuela (video) 5. Gustavo Cabrera, of, Dominican Republic (video) 6. Jose Castillo, lhp, Venezuela (video) 7. Luiz Gohara, lhp, Brazil 8. Carlos Belen, 3b, Dominican Republic (video) 9. Luis Castro, ss, Venezuela 10. Wendell Rijo, ss, Dominican Republic (video) 11. Amed Rosario, ss, Dominican Republic (video) 12. Amaurys Minier, ss, Dominican Republic (video) 13. Richard Urena, ss, Dominican Republic (video) 14. David Rodriguez, c, Venezuela (video) 15. Deivi Grullon, c, Dominican Republic (video) 16. Julio de la Cruz, 3b, Dominican Republic (video) 17. Jose Almonte, rhp, Dominican Republic 18. Sergio Alcantara, ss, Dominican Republic 19. Frandy de la Rosa, ss, Dominican Republic (video) 20. Jose Pujols, of, Dominican Republic (video)
I like how 40% of that list is SS prospects. They're probably just marketing themselves as athletes. We don't really need any more short stops. We have a legitimate player or prospect at every level basically. ML/AAA: Lowrie, Marwin Gonzalez, Angel Sanchez AA: Villar A+: Mier, Todd A: Fontana, Moon SS: Dineen, Sclafani RK: Correa
we sticking to dominicans just because of our new facility there? you don't have access to the full scouting reports, do you? i'm curious how premium of a prospect the catcher at #2 is.
I don't have access to the reports, but it's rumored that he (torrens) is going to sign with the Yankees for a significant bonus. Enrique Rojas with Espn deportes and ben badler with BA are the guys to follows for July 2 rumors and signings.
Deivi Grullon is 17th on Mayo's top 20. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6yfiKB39kEg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> DPL Baseball (cached)
^^^ awesome. that's what i like to hear. would be nice to go after the top international catching prospect in each of the next few years. thanks for the info, fellas.
I'd really like the Astros to make a run for Jose Mujica. He just turned 16 on Friday. #8 on Mayo's top 20, #3 according to Ben Badler. Trained by Carlos Guillen. <iframe src='http://mlb.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=20762683&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
The 2012 international signing period has opened. But most of them are asleep right now. So obviously, the first signings will happen first thing in the morning.
Here are the early signings: 1. Franklin Barreto, ss/cf, Venezuela ------------> Blue Jays 9. Luis Castro, ss, Venezuela ---------------------> Blue Jays 17. Jose Almonte, rhp, Dominican Republic -----> Red Sox 20. Jose Pujols, of, Dominican Republic ---------> Phillies
This will be interesting. Spend for fewer top players, or spread the money around to a bunch of lesser guys. Given how much deeper our system has gotten, I like aiming for a few top guys.
Translation: SS Kristian Trompiz, signed out of Venezuela for 300K. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>According to @<a href="https://twitter.com/Enrique_Rojas1">Enrique_Rojas1</a>, the Astros have signed Kristian Trompiz (SS) for $300,000.</p>— Sean (@native_astro) <a href="https://twitter.com/native_astro/status/219801887464095745" data-datetime="2012-07-02T14:37:08+00:00">July 2, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Best players available: Jose Mujica, Alexander Palma, Jose Castillo, Luiz Gohara (still 15), Carlos Belen, Wendell Rijo.</p>— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenBadler/status/219828205429866498" data-datetime="2012-07-02T16:21:43+00:00">July 2, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It seems unfair that 16 y/o international prospect with that many concerns can get a $300,000 bonus. That's roughly mid to late 4th round draft pick money.
Shortstops can move around the bases if they are athletic enough, and you can never have too many legit shortstops