2012 International Free Agent Market

[Guest]

Paniagua

 

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler

 

At his age, I would think so RT @RaisinMan101 Awesome! You said he could move quickly - Does Peoria make sense?

 

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler

 

Yes RT @RaisinMan101 Thank you! Would you consider him a top 30 prospect in the Cubs system?

 

Davell, I told you Ben would answer questions on Paniagua's value as a prospect once he signed. Either that or he just likes me more.

Yeah, you're right. Probably on both accounts actually. Ha. He's great and answers most everything from me, but has avoided my Paniagua questions like the plague.

 

I'm pretty sure he avoided Paniagua questions intentionally. Probably related to the requests of his contacts and connections.

[davell]

He did just answer my question and said he probably doesn't pitch until 2013.

[Guest]

Does Paniagua become our default pitching prospect until the mythical Dillon Maples finally throws a baseball?

 

Pierce Johnson is the only pitcher I currently have in the Cubs top 10. He's definitely ahead of Paniagua, as are Cabrera (reliever), Blackburn, Rosario if moderately healthy, Underwood, Maples and maybe even Whitenack.

 

Man, Theo and co have added quite a few high ceiling arms in the past couple of months - Pierce Johnson, Paul Blackburn, Duane Underwood and now Paniagua.

[Guest]

He did just answer my question and said he probably doesn't pitch until 2013.

Even if these guys didn't sign 2013 contracts, he'd take quite some time to get approved. Makes sense.

[davell]

Does Paniagua become our default pitching prospect until the mythical Dillon Maples finally throws a baseball?

 

Pierce Johnson is the only pitcher I currently have in the Cubs top 10. He's definitely ahead of Paniagua, as are Cabrera (reliever), Blackburn, Rosario if moderately healthy, Underwood, Maples and maybe even Whitenack.

 

Man, Theo and co have added quite a few high ceiling arms in the past couple of months - Pierce Jackson, Nick Blackburn, Duane Underwood and now Paniagua.

I kind of think this year's draft is the future plan as well: Elite, safer hitter in the 1st round, followed by a group of high upside arms.

[Guest]

Does Paniagua become our default pitching prospect until the mythical Dillon Maples finally throws a baseball?

 

Pierce Johnson is the only pitcher I currently have in the Cubs top 10. He's definitely ahead of Paniagua, as are Cabrera (reliever), Blackburn, Rosario if moderately healthy, Underwood, Maples and maybe even Whitenack.

 

Man, Theo and co have added quite a few high ceiling arms in the past couple of months - Pierce Jackson, Nick Blackburn, Duane Underwood and now Paniagua.

I kind of think this year's draft is the future plan as well: Elite, safer hitter in the 1st round, followed by a group of high upside arms.

 

They're going to go BPA (as long as bonus demands are reasonable) in the first round. If that's Appel, Stanek, Crawford, Whitson or Hollon, I can't imagine they'll go a different direction.

[El Duderino]

that's the second time I've seen you say Nick Blackburn instead of Paul Blackburn :wink:

[wvcbxl]

MLB's annual European Academy got underway last Wednesday in Italy; on average, about seven players a year (starting in 2005) get signed by MLB organizations, the Mariners' Alex Liddi being the first to make it to the majors.

 

A kid who can't be signed for a while, but may be worth keeping an eye on, is 14yr old Dutch RHP pitcher Matz Schutte, fresh off winning pitching honors at the European U16 championship (former Cubs farmhand Ferenc Jongejan was the pitching coach on that team). He is by far the youngest player attending.

[Guest]

Gohora signs with the Mariners, per Ben Badler.

[Bear Cub]

Have the Cubs only signed two players off the July 2nd group? ( Dela Rosa, and Paniagua )

[davell]

Have the Cubs only signed two players off the July 2nd group? ( Dela Rosa, and Paniagua )

It's hard to know for sure. I saw a blurb a few weeks ago mentioning us as having signed 3 guys. But then, I noticed them showing up immediately in boxscores, so who knows if they were just signed or not? Since most of these guys sign contracts for the following season. Possible though, as all of these guys were slightly older. At any rate, the lower level signings are usually hard to find. It's gotten quite a bit vetter though, as it seems like 50k and higher gets reported for the most part. My guess is they've signed lots of very low salary guys, but are leaving some money, in case another solid player emerges.

[TheDude]

K.Law did a write-up on Paniagua's first outting.

 

The Cubs signed Juan Carlos Paniagua in mid-July for $1.5 million, a signing that was notable not just for its value but because it marked Paniagua's third contract with an MLB organization. He signed with the Diamondbacks in 2009 and pitched in the Dominican Republic, only to have the contract voided by MLB because he signed the deal under an assumed identity, and then went through a similar issue after signing with the Yankees in 2011 due to fraudulent idenfitication papers. His listed date of birth, April 4th, 1990, is considered unconfirmed by MLB, but unless he's actually 30 years old, it doesn't really matter given how good his arm is.

 

Paniagua made his second appearance for the Cubs (and thus second pro appearance in the U.S.) on Sunday night, facing five batters across two innings of work. He was at 92-94 mph in his first inning and 93-97 in the second, with the velocity about as effortless as you can imagine. His slider was above-average, 83-87, very sharp with some tilt but more vertical than horizontal break. His changeup was below-average at 79-80 and if he'd told the hitters it was coming via semaphore it wouldn't have been more obvious.

 

He's listed at 6-foot-1, 175, and doesn't have a ton of projection remaining, not that you'd expect much more fastball in the future. He takes a very long stride to the plate and generates velocity more with his lower half than his upper half, which should increase his ability to stay healthy. Given his age and present stuff he'd be a candidate to go start next year in full-season ball, maybe even Daytona, although getting him used to handling a starter's workload every fifth day will also be a priority.

[davell]

Awesome. Thanks for that. But I now have no clue where to put him in my top 30.

[davell]

I asked Jesse Sanchez a couple days if we had signed anyone else and we gave 100k to a kid named Wagner Dislan and 80k to a kid named Luis Hernandez. Both are from the DR but I don't have what positions either plays.

[El Duderino]

High school pitcher Shohei Otani, 18, is being courted by every NPB team and at least three Major League teams, reports WEEI.com's Alex Speier. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Rangers have all sent representatives to Japan to meet with Otani, and Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News notes that the Orioles also have interest in the right-hander.

 

Despite his young age, Otani is already 6'4" and 190 pounds and owns a fastball that has been clocked in the 99-100 mph range. MLB teams wouldn't have to pay a posting fee to sign Otani as he isn't contracted to any Japanese pro team.

 

Theo?

 

http://www.giantrobot.com/news/shohei-otani-throws-99-mph-pitch-in-high-school-game/

[davell]

Zero excuses on this one. If he's bigtime, and it appears he is, he needs to be a Cub. Period. I'm glad it says "at least", we've got to be in on this guy.

[craig]

So what will be the Cubs international signing cap next summer? $4.4? It will be interesting to see how that works. Spend it all on one signature prospect, such that you can outbid everybody but Houston? Or try for a couple of high-dollar guys? More new landscape for mlb.

 

How sharply does it drop from the Cubs to the 3rd, 4th, 5th teams? Like $0.1 million each? Or more sharply than that?

[davell]

Official numbers haven't been released, but the one outline I saw had teams getting anywhere from 4.9 mill to 1.9 in 100k increments. Plus, you have the ability to trade for up to half your budget(2.4 for the Cubs if the outline I saw was correct). I doubt that a single guy gets a high budget teams full allotment, but who knows? I hope we get 3 of the top 10 or so, with our budget being what it is and round it out with some depth. Honestly, I'm a little surprised we still have some excess left over from last year(can't be rolled over). But to my knowledge, we've only spent 2.455 of our original 2.9.

[El Duderino]

I'd be pretty tempted to spend it all on a 6'4'' 18-year old who can touch 99.

[davell]

True. But aren't Japanese players exempt from the new IFA rules completely?

[El Duderino]

True. But aren't Japanese players exempt from the new IFA rules completely?

 

I haven't followed the new rules closely, to be honest. Hadn't heard that.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I believe they are only exempt if they are coming through the posting system.

[Guest]

True. But aren't Japanese players exempt from the new IFA rules completely?

 

No, only if they're 23 or older.

 

He has to sign before Oct 25th, the day of the NPB Draft. If not, he's not a free agent for a long time (9-10 years, I believe) and would have to go through the posting process to leave early.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

So we have a couple of hundred K left under our budget, and he'd have to come out of that? I think that settles it.

[Guest]

So we have a couple of hundred K left under our budget, and he'd have to come out of that? I think that settles it.

 

Are there any teams sitting on a lot more than that?