They spent 95%+ of their pool on 4 guys. It looks like quite a few teams spent almost their entire pool on a single player. I love that Houston was able to get 3 of the top 30 bonused players; sure seems like if there were an international draft that having 3 first round picks would be a big deal, even if those picks all fell in the 15-30 range.
I don’t know for sure. But the 4 guys who we’ve seen rough number bonuses reported (Diaz $2.25M, Ramirez $1.2M, Valencia $1.1M, Perez $800k) for add up to more than Houston’s total pool, so no matter if the other guys have bonuses that didn’t count against the pool at all, those 4 guys make up almost the entire pool.
Seems like the Astros got some mightily intriguing prospects. Of course these prospect are at likely 4 years away, but this is good for the organization.
Astros sign nine international prospects The 2023 MLB international signing period is open and the Astros wasted little time, signing nine prospects. The nine are OF Eduardo Pérez, OF Esmil Valencia, SS Camilo Diaz, SS German Ramirez, RHP Rafael Gonzalez, RHP Eudy Liriano, RHP Joan Ogando, IF Sandro Pereira and OF Juan Sierra. Diaz, Ramirez and Valencia are the prizes of the class. Diaz is ranked 17th on the Top 50 International Prospects list while Valencia ranks 21st. All three are in Baseball America's Top 30 International prospects. In the recent 2023 MLB Pipeline Poll, the Astros tied for the winners in the category of "Which team plays the international market better than any other?"
Jim Crane cares about the Future, International Prospects is the Bloodline of MLB Teams. Jeremy Pena said it himself American Kids dont work as hard than Dominican Kids do. Dominican people grow up in a tougher environment, Parents are working hard, bad economy etc. Kids in the Dominican are tougher because of Parents and Environment. Puerto Rico - Carlos Correa father is a Construction worker and worked Carlos in Construction laying bricks, Carlos toughened up and learned a tough lesson. Carlos worked hard in baseball at a young age 7 years old played Youth League, became a Star.
Astros transactions page added some additional signings: RHP Manuel Mendoza - 16-year-old from Venezuela RHP Luis Aguilar - 18-year-old from Panama SS Jesus Mujica - 17-year-old from Venezuela OF Ariel Lebron - 17-year-old from Panama C Francisco Caldera - 16-year-old from Venezuela
I wonder if Francisco Caldera is related to Fernando Caldera, another Venezuelan C who was signed to a 2nd tier bonus in 2019.
That was my first thought upon seeing the name. It seems like players with pro brothers tend to do well. Tucker is great. J C Correa might make the majors. Heck, the Astros had a Wander Franco in their system for a while.
It is my understanding the 16 year olds have to turn 17 before some arbitrary date to be eligible (7/1 ?)