Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez Signs with the Phillies

[Infrequent Poster]

Danny Knobler[/url]"]About 45 scouts were in Tijuana, Mexico, on Friday night to watch Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, baseball's latest Cuban sensation.

 

The 26-year-old right-hander is with the Tijuana Toros as a showcase before signing with a major-league team. One scout who was there said that the Cubs were heavily represented. The Dodgers, Red Sox and Angels were also among the many teams who watched Gonzalez.

 

The estimates of how much it will take to sign Gonzalez vary greatly, with some scouts suggesting Friday it could take $40 million over four years. Others have said Gonzalez could get $60 million over five years, or even more.

 

The Dodgers are said to badly want Gonzalez, but they'll face competition. The Red Sox had eight representatives watching Gonzalez last week, including general manager Ben Cherington.

 

Not a single word on the actual performance. SMH.

 

This talks about the results. But can't speak to the stuff.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/world-series-dreaming/2013/06/a-grainy-hard-to-watch-first-hand-look-at-the-next-cuban-sensation/

[Infrequent Poster]

Jesse Sanchez‏@JesseSanchezMLB

RHP Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez has received notice from US gov. that his app is being processed. He could be cleared by OFAC early as next week

[PrimeTime]

After the Puig signing looking good so far, not at all surprised at all by them gambling big bucks again

 

Robert Murray ‏@BigLeagueRumors 1h

 

A scout told George A. King that it "looks like" the #Dodgers will sign Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez

[ctcf]

Who in the hell is Robert Murray

[davell]

Who in the hell is Robert Murray

Someone with a site that no one's ever heard of. That said, I'd be completely fine watching the Dodgers spend 60 mill or so on this guy. It makes it likely they'd back off of Suk Min Yoon and the 24-25 year old Japanese guy(Takada, Tanaka?) that looks to be posted this offseason.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, the whole "let the other teams spend themselves out of competition for later signings"-plan has worked fantastically well so far.

[davell]

Yeah, the whole "let the other teams spend themselves out of competition for later signings"-plan has worked fantastically well so far.

The Dodgers will have given Kershaw an extension by then. They've got Greinke and Ryu as their 2 and 3. If they give Gonzalez over 10 mill a year, you c as n pencil him in. They'll still have Beckett and Billingsley for another year and expect Zack Lee to compete for their last spot as well. If they give a guy 60 mill that doesn't become more than a mid rotation type, it doesn't help them all that much and gives us a better shot at signing one of the other guys. We're not playing on the same field(or planet possibly) when it comes to the Dodgers financially. Better to vet them out of the way, in my opinion, and it gives us a much better shot at the others. Who may be better anyway. We can compete financially with anyone else, given the current landscape.

[Guest]

Who in the hell is Robert Murray

Someone with a site that no one's ever heard of. That said, I'd be completely fine watching the Dodgers spend 60 mill or so on this guy. It makes it likely they'd back off of Suk Min Yoon and the 24-25 year old Japanese guy(Takada, Tanaka?) that looks to be posted this offseason.

 

Masahiro Tanaka.

 

And while he would like to be posted, there's no guarantee it happens.

[Little Slide Rooter]

A scout told George A. King that it "looks like" the #Dodgers will sign Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez

 

[expletive] it. It's not my money. If he's really that good, we need him more. Pull the rug out from under them HoyerStein!

 

I'm sick using the let Team X spend $Y0,000,000 so we can save up for something that may never exist frame of mind. Let's be Team X.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, the whole "let the other teams spend themselves out of competition for later signings"-plan has worked fantastically well so far.

The Dodgers will have given Kershaw an extension by then. They've got Greinke and Ryu as their 2 and 3. If they give Gonzalez over 10 mill a year, you c as n pencil him in. They'll still have Beckett and Billingsley for another year and expect Zack Lee to compete for their last spot as well. If they give a guy 60 mill that doesn't become more than a mid rotation type, it doesn't help them all that much and gives us a better shot at signing one of the other guys. We're not playing on the same field(or planet possibly) when it comes to the Dodgers financially. Better to vet them out of the way, in my opinion, and it gives us a much better shot at the others. Who may be better anyway. We can compete financially with anyone else, given the current landscape.

 

Nobody has any real idea what they can or can't spend, so just assuming/hoping they'll spend themselves out of contention sooner rather than later isn't a sound plan. It ranks up there with people expecting a sudden flood of homegrown talent and the FA market lining up with when the Cubs are "ready to compete again;" you can't just keep talking yourself out of making necessary moves to ideally improve this team. This is exactly the type of player they were supposedly going to focus on to help jump-start this mess and they've already missed out on several key chances.

[davell]

My thing with Gonzalez is this: And its been mentioned earlier too. His stats weren't impressive in the Cuban league. Not 60 mill impressive anyway. He's been hit pretty hard in his showcases. And there are even reports he may not be ready to help a major league team this year. And he's coming off 2 straight years if bone spurs in his elbow. Is THIS the guy you really want to pay 60 mill to? Look, I want the bigtime IFA guys. But this guy at this price? Honestky, I think I'll pass. If we surprise everyone and get him, I'll be hesitantly optimistic. But if we miss, I'm not going to be pissed.

[Sammy Sofa]

My thing with Gonzalez is this: And its been mentioned earlier too. His stats weren't impressive in the Cuban league. Not 60 mill impressive anyway. He's been hit pretty hard in his showcases. And there are even reports he may not be ready to help a major league team this year. And he's coming off 2 straight years if bone spurs in his elbow. Is THIS the guy you really want to pay 60 mill to? Look, I want the bigtime IFA guys. But this guy at this price? Honestky, I think I'll pass. If we surprise everyone and get him, I'll be hesitantly optimistic. But if we miss, I'm not going to be pissed.

 

People weren't that big on Puig, too, but the FO sure was, and hey, that seems to be working out OK so far. And the scuttlebutt is, yet again, our FO is VERY interested in this player. I'm more than willing to defer to them.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The FO was also crazy interested in Gerardo Concepcion.

[Guest]

Nobody has any real idea what they can or can't spend, so just assuming/hoping they'll spend themselves out of contention sooner rather than later isn't a sound plan. It ranks up there with people expecting a sudden flood of homegrown talent and the FA market lining up with when the Cubs are "ready to compete again;" you can't just keep talking yourself out of making necessary moves to ideally improve this team. This is exactly the type of player they were supposedly going to focus on to help jump-start this mess and they've already missed out on several key chances.

 

Aside from the fact that he's an IFA, how is he the type of player they're supposed to be focused on? Guys like Puig, Cespedes, Darvish, and Ryu had a great deal of success in their respective leagues before coming over here, and there was a decent amount of doubt about even them. Gonzalez hasn't pitched in a long time so maybe his stuff has improved, but he couldn't strike people out in Cuba 2 years ago and the reports about his stuff aren't overwhelming in the least.

[davell]

Mojo, I said as soon as Walter took over for McCourt, they could be looking at a 300 mill payroll within 5 years. They certainly COULD get this guy AND another bigtime pitcher over the offseason. I suspect they'll go after a 2B and 3B as well though, before going that route.

[Sammy Sofa]

Nobody has any real idea what they can or can't spend, so just assuming/hoping they'll spend themselves out of contention sooner rather than later isn't a sound plan. It ranks up there with people expecting a sudden flood of homegrown talent and the FA market lining up with when the Cubs are "ready to compete again;" you can't just keep talking yourself out of making necessary moves to ideally improve this team. This is exactly the type of player they were supposedly going to focus on to help jump-start this mess and they've already missed out on several key chances.

 

Aside from the fact that he's an IFA, how is he the type of player they're supposed to be focused on? Guys like Puig, Cespedes, Darvish, and Ryu had a great deal of success in their respective leagues before coming over here, and there was a decent amount of doubt about even them. Gonzalez hasn't pitched in a long time so maybe his stuff has improved, but he couldn't strike people out in Cuba 2 years ago and the reports about his stuff aren't overwhelming in the least.

 

Again, I'm just going by the FO's reported interest. I don't know [expletive] about his guy and honestly could not give less of a [expletive] about knowing anything about him. If the FO thinks he's worth spending on, then they should get him.

[davell]

Mojo, I'm not arguing your last point. The FO knows far more than we do. I'm just doubting they're looking at the guy at a 60 mill type level.

[Sammy Sofa]

Well, then that's just indicative of a larger problem. It's very realistic this guy isn't worth that at all, but that's unfortunately the kind of spending we're seeing on these types of signings now, and, for better or for worse, the Cubs have to come prepared to spend big if they want them.

[davell]

Well, then that's just indicative of a larger problem. It's very realistic this guy isn't worth that at all, but that's unfortunately the kind of spending we're seeing on these types of signings now, and, for better or for worse, the Cubs have to come prepared to spend big if they want them.

Agree completely with you on that as well. Just comes down to what Theo/Jed have to play with monetarily. Hopefully Ricketts will let them play at the big boy table sooner than later.

[Guest]

Nobody has any real idea what they can or can't spend, so just assuming/hoping they'll spend themselves out of contention sooner rather than later isn't a sound plan. It ranks up there with people expecting a sudden flood of homegrown talent and the FA market lining up with when the Cubs are "ready to compete again;" you can't just keep talking yourself out of making necessary moves to ideally improve this team. This is exactly the type of player they were supposedly going to focus on to help jump-start this mess and they've already missed out on several key chances.

 

Aside from the fact that he's an IFA, how is he the type of player they're supposed to be focused on? Guys like Puig, Cespedes, Darvish, and Ryu had a great deal of success in their respective leagues before coming over here, and there was a decent amount of doubt about even them. Gonzalez hasn't pitched in a long time so maybe his stuff has improved, but he couldn't strike people out in Cuba 2 years ago and the reports about his stuff aren't overwhelming in the least.

 

Again, I'm just going by the FO's reported interest. I don't know [expletive] about his guy and honestly could not give less of a [expletive] about knowing anything about him. If the FO thinks he's worth spending on, then they should get him.

 

Nobody knows much about him. They had a large contingent at his start, presumably to see what he's about and where he's at right now. That doesn't necessarily mean they think he's worth spending tens of millions of dollars on. Maybe they thought he might be. Maybe they don't after having seen him, maybe they do. Unless I missed some reports, I don't think anything reported would be an indication in either direction.

[jersey cubs fan]

Yeah, the whole "let the other teams spend themselves out of competition for later signings"-plan has worked fantastically well so far.

The Dodgers will have given Kershaw an extension by then. They've got Greinke and Ryu as their 2 and 3. If they give Gonzalez over 10 mill a year, you c as n pencil him in. They'll still have Beckett and Billingsley for another year and expect Zack Lee to compete for their last spot as well. If they give a guy 60 mill that doesn't become more than a mid rotation type, it doesn't help them all that much and gives us a better shot at signing one of the other guys. We're not playing on the same field(or planet possibly) when it comes to the Dodgers financially. Better to vet them out of the way, in my opinion, and it gives us a much better shot at the others. Who may be better anyway. We can compete financially with anyone else, given the current landscape.

 

Nobody has any real idea what they can or can't spend, so just assuming/hoping they'll spend themselves out of contention sooner rather than later isn't a sound plan. It ranks up there with people expecting a sudden flood of homegrown talent and the FA market lining up with when the Cubs are "ready to compete again;" you can't just keep talking yourself out of making necessary moves to ideally improve this team. This is exactly the type of player they were supposedly going to focus on to help jump-start this mess and they've already missed out on several key chances.

 

I don't know, it only took teams 15 years to see the Yankees get themselves a little over their head and hoping to pare their expenses.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, the whole "let the other teams spend themselves out of competition for later signings"-plan has worked fantastically well so far.

The Dodgers will have given Kershaw an extension by then. They've got Greinke and Ryu as their 2 and 3. If they give Gonzalez over 10 mill a year, you c as n pencil him in. They'll still have Beckett and Billingsley for another year and expect Zack Lee to compete for their last spot as well. If they give a guy 60 mill that doesn't become more than a mid rotation type, it doesn't help them all that much and gives us a better shot at signing one of the other guys. We're not playing on the same field(or planet possibly) when it comes to the Dodgers financially. Better to vet them out of the way, in my opinion, and it gives us a much better shot at the others. Who may be better anyway. We can compete financially with anyone else, given the current landscape.

 

Nobody has any real idea what they can or can't spend, so just assuming/hoping they'll spend themselves out of contention sooner rather than later isn't a sound plan. It ranks up there with people expecting a sudden flood of homegrown talent and the FA market lining up with when the Cubs are "ready to compete again;" you can't just keep talking yourself out of making necessary moves to ideally improve this team. This is exactly the type of player they were supposedly going to focus on to help jump-start this mess and they've already missed out on several key chances.

 

I don't know, it only took teams 15 years to see the Yankees get themselves a little over their head and hoping to pare their expenses.

 

15 years and the death of their owner. Dare to dream!

[SouthSideRyan]

We can compete financially with anyone else, given the current landscape.

 

What would possibly make you think this based on the last few years?

[SouthSideRyan]

Nobody has any real idea what they can or can't spend, so just assuming/hoping they'll spend themselves out of contention sooner rather than later isn't a sound plan. It ranks up there with people expecting a sudden flood of homegrown talent and the FA market lining up with when the Cubs are "ready to compete again;" you can't just keep talking yourself out of making necessary moves to ideally improve this team. This is exactly the type of player they were supposedly going to focus on to help jump-start this mess and they've already missed out on several key chances.

 

Aside from the fact that he's an IFA, how is he the type of player they're supposed to be focused on?

 

Because he costs nothing but money.

[davell]

We can compete financially with anyone else, given the current landscape.

 

What would possibly make you think this based on the last few years?

I'm just basing it on we ARE a large market team that has a lower payroll than usual. Don't get me wrong, Ricketts has NOT shown he's able to. But I just can't imagine Theo came here unless he knew we could, when we needed to.