International Free Agency, 2019-2020

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Badler did his IFA review of the Cubs today: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2019-20-mlb-international-reviews-chicago-cubs/

 

• Ronnier Quintero is an offensive-minded catcher. Above average bat speed, plus raw power, raw arm strength (60 arm) but the rest of his defense lags behind
  
• Kevin Made ($1.5 million bonus) has quick hands, strong wrists and has a high contact rate due to hand-eye coordination and a selective approach. 70 arm, should stick at SS
  
• Brayan Altuve is a great athlete, plus runner with good catch-and-throw skills to stay at C. High baseball IQ. Plus bat speed.
  
• Christian More ($400k bonus) and Felix Stevens ($250k bonus) signed before 7/2 out of Cuba and played in the DSL last season.
  
• Sleepers: 17-year old Venezuelan SS Luis Maza and 19-year old Dominian RHP Edgar Mercedes ($10k bonus). Merecedes is 6'8" and can hit 97 mph.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5wHnnGgl_F/?igshid=f6lfd9cmj7he

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I could have sworn the 1B was Baez for a second, probably Quintero though

 

It’s Quintero.

[Bertz]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Cubs signed someone from Spain: https://www.thecubreporter.com/01272020/cubs-2019-20-international-signing-period-j-2-players

 

1/27 UPDATE:

 

The Cubs have officially signed their 12th 2019-20 IFA:

 

Frank Hernandez, RHP/OF (two-way player)

R/R, 5'11 180, Age 18

SPAIN

 

The 18-year old Hernandez (he turns 19 next month) was the star (OF & RHP) of the Spanish 18U team that played for the World Cup in South Korea last summer, and he is the first player ever signed by the Cubs out of Spain.

 

He has been assigned to DSL Cubs Blue (Future Service Contract - signed 2020 contract) and is being officially carried as a pitcher on the DSL Cubs Blue roster, although he was signed as a "two-way player."

 

NOTE: Hernandez was signed prior to January 1st so he can be carried as a "Future Services Player" (and thus not count against the DSL Cubs Blue reserve list limit until DSL Opening Day). Although Hernandez was signed about a month ago, the filing of his contract and the required approval by MLB was delayed because the MLB office was closed for two weeks over Christmas - New Year's.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA ranked the top 100 international signings from 2019 (post-July 2nd): https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2019-international-top-100-prospects/

 

14. Ronnier Quintero

20. Kevin Made

70. Brayan Altuve

 

Regarding the Cubs strategy of going after only a couple of high-end prospects, I found it interesting the Yankees and Dodgers did the same thing. The Yankees only had 2 in the top 100 - #1 and #62 while the Dodgers had 2 also - #2 and #38. The Yankees had to forgo their agreement with the #10 ranked prospect last year because they couldn't acquire cap space.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

This is a 16-year old the Cubs signed in December:

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Arizona Phil[/url]"]Contrary to reports, 2019-20 IFA J-2 C Brayan Altuve was -NOT - signed by the Cubs in July. The Cubs did not have enough ISBP room initially to fit in his $1M bonus, so instead he was "officially" signed after the conclusion of the 2019 season, which means the Cubs will get an extra year before Altuve will be Rule 5 Draft eligible (post-2024, instead of post-2023 which would have been the case if he had signed in July).

 

Presumably the extra ISBP space that was needed to sign Altuve (and 16 other ISP FA signed by the Cubs post-July) came from the Rockies in the Jimmy Herron trade on 7/31. The exact amount of ISBP acquired by the Cubs from COL for Herron has not been reported, but since the Cubs sent $250K of their own ISBP space to SD in the Carl Edwards/Brad Wieck trade, the amount of ISBP space received from the Rockies must have been at least $500K (Herron was signed by the Cubs for $520K) or maybe even $750K. (ISBP space can only be traded in increments of $250K).

 

Remember, when a club acquires ISBP space in a trade they atre only acquiring the right to spend additional money on bonuses given to IFA during that ISP. The club is not actually acquiring cash; just the right to spend cash.

[CubsWin]

Arizona Phil[/url]"]Contrary to reports, 2019-20 IFA J-2 C Brayan Altuve was -NOT - signed by the Cubs in July. The Cubs did not have enough ISBP room initially to fit in his $1M bonus, so instead he was "officially" signed after the conclusion of the 2019 season, which means the Cubs will get an extra year before Altuve will be Rule 5 Draft eligible (post-2024, instead of post-2023 which would have been the case if he had signed in July).

 

Presumably the extra ISBP space that was needed to sign Altuve (and 16 other ISP FA signed by the Cubs post-July) came from the Rockies in the Jimmy Herron trade on 7/31. The exact amount of ISBP acquired by the Cubs from COL for Herron has not been reported, but since the Cubs sent $250K of their own ISBP space to SD in the Carl Edwards/Brad Wieck trade, the amount of ISBP space received from the Rockies must have been at least $500K (Herron was signed by the Cubs for $520K) or maybe even $750K. (ISBP space can only be traded in increments of $250K).

 

Remember, when a club acquires ISBP space in a trade they atre only acquiring the right to spend additional money on bonuses given to IFA during that ISP. The club is not actually acquiring cash; just the right to spend cash.

Well that worked out well. I’ll take the extra year of development time especially since Quintero and him are both catchers.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA:

Signed: RHP Rony Baez (for 2021) | RHP Kenyi Perez (for 2021)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Yesterday was the last day of this signing period.

 

 

More details from Arizona Phil on those final 11 signings: https://www.thecubreporter.com/10162020/cubs-2019-20-international-signing-period-j-2-players

 

Yohan Crispin, RHP

R/R, 6'2 175, Age 19

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

Andrws Cruz, INF

R/R, 5'10 150, Age 17

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

Joandy Duran, RHP

R/R, 6'00 200, Age 18

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

Leonel Espinoza, SS

R/R, 6'0 165, Age 17

VENEZUELA

 

Waimer Fabian, RHP

R/R, 6'2 180, Age 19

DOMINICANJ REPUBLIC

 

Angel Hernandez, LHP

L/L, 6'2 180, Age 20

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

Jose Herrera, C

R/ R, 5'11 162, Age 17

COLOMBIA

 

Jose Miguel Lopez, RHP

R/R, 6'2 170, Age 17

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

Jose Romero, RHP

R/R, 5'10 185, Age 19

VENEZUELA

 

Marino Santy, LHP

L/L, 5'11 170, Age 18

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

Jerry Torres, OF

L/R, 6'1 185, Age 18

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Cubs signed 10% of the top 30 IFAs last year, the second most in baseball.

 

 

Chicago Cubs

Pool Amount: $5,148,300

Pool Spent: $5,148,300

The Cubs signed 34 prospects including the No. 6 prospect on the International Top 30, Ronnier Quintero ($2.9 million), No. 11 Kevin Made ($1.5 million) and No. 30 Brayan Altuve ($748,000).

 

FYI, Arizona Phil had the Cubs signing 35.