2011 International FA Market

[davell]

In the latest ASK BA, Callis was asked about Jorge Soler and said he probably would have been drafted behind Harper, Taillon, and Machado in the 2010 draft. Profiles kind of like Bubba Starling, but probably moves to RF, even though he has the speed for CF. He'll probably show up in the 11 to 20 range in the overall top 100 for them. He also reaffirmed he and anyone else can sign before July 2nd for any unspecified amount of money and thinks he'll receive 20 mill or so. Also said, that the penalty for going over the spending limits is only a taxation on the overage, not the entire amount along with not having the ability to sign guys over a certain amount. If this is the case for the draft as well, it's a very good thing.

[RammyFanny]

Does Soler play in the same league as Cespedes? Any way to cmpare their numbers (despite the age difference)?

 

It's be interesting to see a side by side of numbers between him, Cespedes, and other notable Cubans in the recent past.

[davell]

Cubs signed 2 Cuban defectors today. OF Yasiel Balaguert and RHP Carlos Martinez. Balaguert turns 19 in January, played on Cuban Junior National Team with Soler. Played CF, moving Soler to RF. Hit leadoff, but struggled and was moved to 9th. Previous year had better results. Occasional average power, good extension, quick bat. Speed is 40/45, probably winds up moving to LF. Average arm. Martinez is 20. Pitched professionally last year, 23 innings, 5.48 ERA 19 K's and 23 BB's. Low 90's FB, averagish breaking stuff, change needs work. He's 6'4, 215, while Balaguert is 6'0, 190. Both represented by Jaine Torres, same agent as Silva and Cabezas. No bonuses available.

[Outshined_One]

Cubs signed 2 Cuban defectors today. OF Yasiel Balaguert and RHP Carlos Martinez. Balaguert turns 19 in January, played on Cuban Junior National Team with Soler. Played CF, moving Soler to RF. Hit leadoff, but struggled and was moved to 9th. Previous year had better results. Occasional average power, good extension, quick bat. Speed is 40/45, probably winds up moving to LF. Average arm. Martinez is 20. Pitched professionally last year, 23 innings, 5.48 ERA 19 K's and 23 BB's. Low 90's FB, averagish breaking stuff, change needs work. He's 6'4, 215, while Balaguert is 6'0, 190. Both represented by Jaine Torres, same agent as Silva and Cabezas. No bonuses available.

 

That part sounds promising.

[davell]

I'm on my cell, so I can't post a link, but the Cubs evidently signed a 16 year old lefty pitcher by the name of Louis Cornelio Montano. He throws 85 and the Cubs are loaning him to a team in the Mexican League. Brett found the signing, some guys at PSD translated it. No clue how Brett found it, but great work by him.

[jacey]

any confirmation to this signing?

[Guest]

any confirmation to this signing?

 

Confirmed by a Mexican publication, complete with a picture of him in a Cubs hat: http://www.expreso.com.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32203:inicia-su-camino-a-grandes-ligas&catid=41:beisbol&Itemid=38

 

http://www.expreso.com.mx/images/resized/images/stories/2011/12/29/cornelio-luis_432_300.jpg

[davell]

I really, really want us to spend a ton on IFA over the next few months, not even counting Cespedes or Soler. There's a pair of lefty Cuban pitchers, Concepcion, who's been mentioned with us and Omar Luis. Who was the ace of their Jr National Team. Armando Rivero, a reliever who throws 98ish. The guy we considered drafting, Garcia Speck and another 5 tool OFer, Ramon Hernandez(not as good as Soler or Cespedes). Then looking at Latin America, there's the 2 hard throwers, Manuel "the hammer" Gonzalez and Mauricio Silva, who have high price tags supposedly. Shortstops Ronniel Demorizzi and Yairo Munoz, OFer Helsin Martinez, who was supposed to sign with Seattle, but it fell through and probably 15 other 16 or 17 year olds who expected to get solid low to mid six figure bonuses. If we trade Garza and Byrd, maybe make a few trades at midseason, sign Soler, and spend some serious cash on some of these guys(5-10 mill), we could literally be a top 3 system by 2014, at the latest. This is the last chance to do it too, so I hope like hell we're going to. Off to what looks like a promising start, with the first 3 guys, even without bonus info. Crap, forgot all about the Korean Borus signee as well, Hyuk Sung Han and any other Pac Rim possibilities.

[davell]

Oops, wrong thread.

[craig]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/post/_/id/8422/cespedes-soler-on-cubs-white-sox-radar

 

Weird, McLeod talking about Cespedes and Soler. Surprised he'd share any scouting info if he planned to pursue either of them.

 

Here's the last line of the article, which was written by Bruce Levine:

 

Meanwhile, the Cubs signed four young Cuban players over the last 30 days.

 

I'd read about OF Yasiel Balaguert and RHP Carlos Martinez; but had we known about two others? If, in fact, Bruce has it correct and we really did sign two other guys besides Balaguert and Martinez?

[jersey cubs fan]

My guess is the Cubs want it known they are going after these guys to hopefully keep others away.

[davell]

I hope it's Concepcion and Luis. But. I figure we'd have seen that reported by now, if it was the case.

[davell]

Part of me thinks Levine actually meant Silva and Cabezas, when referring to signing 4 Cubans within the last month. Although we did sign Del Valle, Reyes, and Bonne after them even. On a side note, one of the top 2 July 2nd pitching signees, Mauricio Silva signed with the Twins recently for a very reasonable 375,000 bonus. Also, the best SS prospect left, Ronniel Demorizzi, signed with the Blue Jays today. We really need to get a few of the guys who are still out there with bigtime ceilings. Manny Gonzalez and Helsin Martinez appear to be the 2 best guys out there.

[davell]

Geraldo Concepcion has established residency in Mexico. I think it takes around 2 weeks before a player gets approved by MLB? At any rate, he'll be available before Cespedes or Soler will be.

[CubsWin]

According to Enrique Rojas of espndeporteslosangeles.com, Gerardo Concepcion's agent says he has been declared a free agent and is now free to sign with teams.

 

Cuban left-handed pitcher Gerardo Concepcion has been declared a free agent and is free to negotiate with any major league team, his agent said Wednesday.

 

The agent, Jaime Torres, said Concepcion established residency in Mexico as of Tuesday and is presently training in the Dominican Republic. Concepcion defected from Cuba last summer during a tournament played in Europe.

 

The teams that have shown most interest in Concepcion include the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, Torres said.

 

So, apparently, there is no need to wait two weeks or even two hours...

[davell]

A blurb on MLBTR mentioned us and the White Sox as 2 of the 4 teams showing the most interest in Concepcion, who it also mentioned as someone who's probably signing within the next 2 weeks. Has an offer on the table from someone. This will be extremely interesting to watch go down too, with it being the last offseason we can pay whatever we want to for these guys. He's not a top 100 guy(at least currently). He doesn't throw all that hard and is considered a finesse guy. Yet, I figure his signing bonus will be humongous. Without knowing anything about his stuff, just his results in Cuba, I fully expect him to receive upper 1st round type money from someone. I'll put my own personal over/under on his signing bonus at 5 mill. He's really going to benefit from being the best(probably?) Pitcher in still available in the IFA market.

[davell]

Some info coming from a Yankees blog about Concepcion, admittedly I'm unsure about the validity, but it's the first report I've heard on his stuff. He's 6'1, 175 pounds with projection. He throws a 89-91 MPH FB that tops out at 94. Has a plus curve with a solid slider and change. Pitches to contact. So, if this is true, he's certainly a serious talent, in fact, I'd think he WOULD be a top 100 guy if ALL of this were true.

[Guest]

Some info coming from a Yankees blog about Concepcion, admittedly I'm unsure about the validity, but it's the first report I've heard on his stuff. He's 6'1, 175 pounds with projection. He throws a 89-91 MPH FB that tops out at 94. Has a plus curve with a solid slider and change. Pitches to contact. So, if this is true, he's certainly a serious talent, in fact, I'd think he WOULD be a top 100 guy if ALL of this were true.

 

I've heard his stuff is that of a back of the rotation type so that sounds right.

[Guest]

Some guy at minorleagueball.com compiled a list of many of the more well-known remaining international free agents who are available to sign:

 

Darfi Ortiz 2B D.R.

Adaniel Blanco SS D.R.

Alberto Garcia SS

Alexis Parma OF Venezuela

Alfrandy Cespedes P D.R.

Carlos Pereira 3B D.R.

Cesar Aybar P D.R.

Cesar Gonzalez C Venezuela

Daniel Rodriguez P D.R.

Deivi Paulino P D.R.

Eddy Morabel 3B D.R.

Elvis Sanchez 3B

Eskarlin Vazquez OF

Felix Carvallo P Venezuela

Fidias Soto OF D.R.

Ismael Alcantara 3B

Jonas Corporan P D.R.

Jose Julio Ruiz 1B Cuba

Luis Abad P

Michale Leso P D.R.

Pedro Araujo P D.R.

Vladiimir Tejeda P D.R.

Yadil Mujica 3B Cuba

Yoguar Villega SS D.R.

Yorman Landa P Venezuela

Chih Yu Lin P Taiwan

Jih Yuk Ryu 3B South Korea

Ju Suc Ha SS South Korea

Mitchel Martes 3B Aruba

Robert Michael Garcia Quiroz P Mexico

Ronald Ferreras P D.R.

Sung Hyuk Han P South Korea

Helsin Martinez OF Dominican Republic

Gustavo Perinan SS Colombia

Carlos Rodriguez P

Eric Gabo OF

Erick Hurtado P Dominican Republic

Manuel Gonzalez P Dominican Republic

Jhoan Urena 3B Dominican Republic

Jose Leal OF

Luis Carreno P

Sanber Pimentel OF Dominican Republic

Gialy Arias P Dominican Republic

Junior Flores P Venezuela

Kevin Sosa P Venezuela

Victor Medina OF

 

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/1/27/2752582/currently-available-international-players

[seattlecub]

according to BA, Oakland signed Sanber Pimentel on Dec. 4.

[davell]

Pedro Araujo is a Cub. No clue on his signing bonus or anything, but he was probably a late signee last year, because his birthdate is 7/2/93 and he pitched, fairly decently, for the DSL Cubs last season.

[davell]

Ben Badler just posted scouting reports on 6 Cubans not named Cespedes. Can someone recap what's in there, that has a subscription? I'd assume Soler and Concepcion are 2 of them and I know Omar Luis Rodriguez and Armando Rivero are 2 more. Should be some good stuff and tell us how many of these guys, other than Cespedes and Soler are actually worth getting excited about.

[davell]

CubsDen posted a small writeup on the guys in the article. Unfortunately, other than Soler and possibly Concepcion, the only other guy listed with any intrigue is Armando Rivero. He's 23, throws upper 90's and is probably a pen guy, but does throw 3 pitches, so some teams may look at him as a starter. Rodriguez is fringy all around. I would have thought more, since he was the ace of their Jr National team and his stats were excellent. The other 2 guys mentioned were Henry Urrutia and Adonis Garcia, who project as 4th OFers.

[Brett]

CubsDen posted a small writeup on the guys in the article. Unfortunately, other than Soler and possibly Concepcion, the only other guy listed with any intrigue is Armando Rivero. He's 23, throws upper 90's and is probably a pen guy, but does throw 3 pitches, so some teams may look at him as a starter. Rodriguez is fringy all around. I would have thought more, since he was the ace of their Jr National team and his stats were excellent. The other 2 guys mentioned were Henry Urrutia and Adonis Garcia, who project as 4th OFers.

 

What about that guy who was going to be in the draft, and then wasn't, and then who knows what? Onelkis Garcia Speck. Anyone know?

[davell]

He's back in the draft for 2012, came out a few weeks ago. Considered a 2nd or 3rd rounder.