2015-16 International Free Agency Thread

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[Guest]

Sanchez' report on Morejon is MUCH better than Barker's. 91-93, plus command, plus makeup, throws 4 pitches......With one scout saying he's the best arm available in IFA or the 2016 draft.....

 

From Jesse:

 

Morejon is the real deal. The left-handed teenager has shined in international competitions, and his fastball hovers in the 91-93 mph range. Morejon has four pitches, plus command and plus makeup. He's an international star and one scout said he might be the best young arm overall in 2016, and that includes the international market and the 2016 Draft. Morejon is working on his documents and has not been declared a free agent.

[jersey cubs fan]

Is he better than the Greatjon?

[weis21]

We already have Jon Lester, it only makes sense to add Morejon

[davell]

Jesse Sanchez ‏@JesseSanchezMLB 52s53 seconds ago

 

Cionel Perez got struck out seven in 51-pitch outing. Norge Ruiz threw 40 pitches and struck out six. Each pitched 3 innings. #Cuba

[davell]

We gave Morel 800K, pretty solid bonus for a guy that wasn't on our radar at all(via PSD and I saw an article on Twitter that verified it)

 

A while back, I looked up P Jose Albertos and SS Isaac Parades, as it interested me that they were brought over for Instructs without any fanfare. Couldn't find anything related to bonuses, but I did see an article on each. Albertos hits 95 MPH and is 6'4. Paredes is from Mexico, the article called him a 5 tool player(fluff I guess?) But said he did get one of the largest bonuses to come out of Mexico. No number attached, but that definitely intrigues me even more on him.

 

As a reminder, in Mexico, the player only receives 25% of the bonus, his team gets the rest. Its also much harder to finalize deals there and its not scouted nearly as much as the Dominican Republic. Julio Urias came from Mexico(we came close to signing him actually) but was not even listed in Barker's top 30 that year, due to lack of info. So who knows? Parades may be an elite guy for all we know.

[davell]

Thanks for the video. I just wish we had an actual list of signers.....Not even a full list, just one with mid six figure bonuses and up. Morel getting 800K and never even seeing a mention of him is the first time I can remember that happening with us.

[Tryptamine]

Ben Badler @BenBadler

 

Big, big news out of Cuba: 2B Jose Miguel Fernandez has left Cuba to come to MLB. Story at Baseball America: http://bit.ly/1N4A8Jt

8:21 PM - 2 Dec 2015

[davell]

Man, he'd fit us great. It'd probably be a mess trying to fit him in at 2B with the timing unknown as to when he'd be available and us likely out of money by then. But I guess it could happen.

[davell]

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Ftorosdetijuana.com%2Fcolumnasid.php%3Fid%3D151%26fb_comment_id%3D978180912234799_995867257132831%23f5087cbc244752&edit-text=

 

Here's a bit on Jose Albertos, the RHP we signed from Mexico. No bonus amount listed, but it says it's the 3rd highest in firm's(?) history. Don't know whether that means league, team, or what. At any rate, the interesting part here is saying that scouts that saw him placed him in the top 3 talents of Latin America, including Dominicans and Venezuelans.

 

So, both he and Paredes seem to be guys we may have lucked into with lotsof teams not scouting Mexico heavily.

[CubsWin]

Man, he'd fit us great. It'd probably be a mess trying to fit him in at 2B with the timing unknown as to when he'd be available and us likely out of money by then. But I guess it could happen.

The BA article mentioned that he was only adequate defensively at 2B and has played some 3B. His OBP skills sound excellent though. With Baez, Castro and LaStella already on the roster, if the reports of his defensive shortcomings are accurate, i can't see the Cubs going for him. His OBP skills might be better than LaStella's currently, but he sounds a bit like him and could be a redundant signing.

 

But...

 

If the Cubs' scouts think they can coach him up (as they do with younger player's defense), it's an interesting proposition. Say the Cubs were able to include Castro in a deal for pitching and then sign Fernandez to replace him. The Indians (and Braves for that matter) have been asking for 2 major league ready bats in exchange for Carrasco/Salazar. Say the Cubs are high on Fernandez and offered Soler and Castro to the Indians for one of those two pitchers but also got pitching prospects in return. (I'm thinking specifically Tristan McKenzie and Mike Clevinger). The Cubs would get AAA depth for this season in Clevinger (who also has MOR upside) and a 19-year-old comp pick in McKenzie with great size, room to fill out and some filthy stuff. The Cubs may have to add a prospect to balance it out, maybe, but if the Cubs deem is defensive abilities worthy, it's an intriguing idea.

Edited December 4, 2015 by CubsWin

[CubsWin]

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Ftorosdetijuana.com%2Fcolumnasid.php%3Fid%3D151%26fb_comment_id%3D978180912234799_995867257132831%23f5087cbc244752&edit-text=

 

Here's a bit on Jose Albertos, the RHP we signed from Mexico. No bonus amount listed, but it says it's the 3rd highest in firm's(?) history. Don't know whether that means league, team, or what. At any rate, the interesting part here is saying that scouts that saw him placed him in the top 3 talents of Latin America, including Dominicans and Venezuelans.

 

So, both he and Paredes seem to be guys we may have lucked into with lotsof teams not scouting Mexico heavily.

The little we know about Albertos (and Paredes, Marquez, etc.) sounds intriguing. It will be interesting seeing how they perform and reading reports about them next season.

 

The article you linked also mentioned the Cubs signing two other guys, P Faustino Carrera (also called Faustino Carrera Llanes) and OF Ruben Reyes. Carrera pitched for the 15U Mexican team in 2014 which would make him around 16. There's a Facebook post showing him in Cubs gear signing his contract. I can't find anything else about him including his signing bonus. Here's a Spanish-speaking news report on his signing. There may be more info in this video if anyone can translate.

 

Reyes was 20 when he signed with the Cubs on July 29th. This milb.com article in Spanish says he hit .238 in 47 regular season games and was selected to his league's all-star game.

[davell]

Anyone with BA able to give us anything interesting in part two(pitching) of the Cuban article that Badler put out today? Badler said on Twitter he expects Cubs to sign at least one of them.

[Johnny OHagan]

“He’s a fast-track type lefthander with a chance to pitch in the rotation,” said one scout. “You compare him to the other guys in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic who are his age, they’re not even close to as polished as him.”

 

The Cubs are looking to add pitching to their farm system, with several sources pegging them as the favorites to land Morejon.

Adrian Morejon. Doesn't link any teams to any other players. Less than complimentary about Gutierrez as well.

[davell]

Thanks Johnny. Was there anything on Perez or Bolanos that makes them seem worthwhile? I'm starting to wonder if they've passed Gutierrez up at this point as far as priority goes. I guess Ruiz is the top guy, based on pedigree, how advanced he is, and likely his stuff too.

[Johnny OHagan]

Ruiz, 21, was the centerpiece of a showcase game in the Dominican Republic on Monday, with Cubs president Theo Epstein among those in attendance, no surprise given that the Cubs are targeting Cuban pitchers and are already over their 2015-16 bonus pool.

 

I'd say Gutierrez is still just ahead of the two. Morejon, Ruiz, Yasiel Sierra and 1 of the 3 and I'll be happy. Ha. Morejon is the one I want. Happy if it was just him we got.

[davell]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/12/22/lazaro-armenteros-cuba-baseball/77750654/

 

MLB should be ruling by the end of January as to whether Lazarito is eligible to be signed this period or not. No idea if this also means they're ruling on others or just him, but I'd veer towards it concerning more than just him.

[davell]

RHP Carlos Sierra signed with the Astros. He's 20 and has been on my page 14 list. Reports seem fairly nondescript on him. 90ish with control. No word yet on how much he got, but I'm hoping he was cheap enough to keep the Astros under their limit.(Which appears to have around 2 mill or so left)

[Guest]

Lazarito will have a showcase on January 8th in the Dominican: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/lazaro-armenteros-mlb-showcase-cuban-prospect.html

[Guest]

did we ever straighten out whether there were two guys named lazaro or not?

[davell]

Cuban teenage phenom "Lazarito" has a showcase scheduled for Jan. 8. This video was sent to scouts to preview event: https://t.co/VtrQWGclUI

[Guest]

 

lazaro promo video

[davell]

I'd much rather sign multiple pitchers than spend huge on him.

[Guest]

I'd much rather sign multiple pitchers than spend huge on him.

I've said it before...I want them all.

[davell]

I just want guys to ACTUALLY become eligible. I was fairly sure a solid group would be, even by now. With more coming eligible within the month or so. As it stands right now, the ONLY guys eligible are P Vladimir Gutierrez and CF Jonatan Machado. I figured Ruiz, Arozarena and others would be signable by now and we'd likely get about half of the Ona/Lazarito/Morejon time frame guys in on this class.

 

With the news that Lazarito will know by the end of January, I'm guessing others will as well. But I find it unlikely that ALL of these guys get dumped into this class(even if other teams can bid and keep them from signing till later) I just want news these guys are available. We'll get our fair share as long as they are.