I think it is a little overstated that Ortiz was out of shape. Clearly he picked up weight between the time the Phillies agreed with him (likely at age 14 or thereabouts) and his signing date. But from all reports when he was with the Phillies he did work to get back in shape from the start. He was just a big guy that was probably less athletic than the Phillies anticipated and they agreed to a $4 million deal when he should have been more in the $1-$2 million range.
He did have tools though. Huge power. Enough mobility to be an average RF with a good arm. He just could not hit consistently enough. Whether that is just bad luck or a bad development system is an open question. But the mere fact of the overpay is the real problem here. I think we probably overpaid for both Bergolla certainly and Caba. These guys were very expensive for modest athletic tools. They appear to be good baseball players, but really don't have the high end talent (especially Bergolla) that you would associate with their bonus.
So if this is a change of course to recognize that with a smaller bonus pool we should not just bet it all on the best player we have a relationship with then good. I have always wanted the Phillies to spend to the max internationally and bring in a diverse array of talent. The last few years have involved betting most of our pool on what seem to be second tier international talents. I have no problem doing that as long as we don't overpay.
