July 2, 2017 International Signing Period

[zambonir]

Is there not a site that tracks how many allocations are actually left to acquire (at least from the teams that we know can't do anything)?

[tom81]

I think it’s 75% this year.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/international/2017-18-international-bonus-pools/?amphtml=1

The small note it the recent hiring was the Japenese scout Isao O’Jimi.

Phillies promote inner-circle decision maker Bryan Minniti to assistant GM, add...

If this is the guy I think it is he has had a lot of success hiring top talent for LA and the Mets. This could be a tremendous addition given the potential out of Japan this year.

https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/dodgers-hire-head-scout-for-japan-65344058-071913?amp=true

[fish]

he small note it the recent hiring was the Japenese scout Isao O’Jimi.

Besides doubling down on scouts in the Dominican and Venezuela they added coverage to areas they haven’t been- O’Jimi in Japan as Tom81 mentioned, but also Dargello Lodowica (signed Albies) for Curaçao and Oneri Fleita for Mexico.

Love it! I’m a believer in the Dodgers scouting system - they seem to find more sleepers than anyone else by have a lot of good scouts and plenty of overlap to make sure as many of those scouts are seeing guys as possible.

[Austinfan]

You wanted Klentak to spend money?
Looking at the list of new hires, and of course the funds they'll need for travel, lodging, offices, etc., I'd say that's an annual commitment in the millions.

[andyb]

You wanted Klentak to spend money?
Looking at the list of new hires, and of course the funds they'll need for travel, lodging, offices, etc., I'd say that's an annual commitment in the millions.

Do you actually have a shred of evidence that the Phillies are spending more money staffing their organization compared to others, especially teams in their revenue range? For every 10 scouts they added they could have let 10 go. And most organizations are adding all these analytical front office jobs. It is good that they are doing this, but it is far from evidence that they are spending money commensurate with their peers. Everybody has more front office positions these days. This may be just keeping up.

[andyb]

I think it’s 75% this year.

Yes it is 75% now and in the future. And at this year's pool level 75% means we can trade for $3.5625 million in allocations. We have traded for either $1.0 million or $1.25 million. We did 4 small deals and they likely were all for $250K in allocations. That means we can trade for more than $2 million in additional allocations.

[Austinfan]

They usually announce dismissals, they did earlier in the year.
This looks like an expansion of the scouting staff and the development staff, before they expanded the analytics staff.
One of the advantages of a big budget team is you can spend a few million more on scouting and development and it doesn't count against the cap.

[allentown]

Yes, superior quality and quantity of staff is a way for a high revenue team to gain an advantage, as is staffing a higher fraction of the international baseball areas. Still, it does not take the place of aggressive bonus spending. The two should be complementary advantages.

[andyb]

Yes, superior quality and quantity of staff is a way for a high revenue team to gain an advantage, as is staffing a higher fraction of the international baseball areas. Still, it does not take the place of aggressive bonus spending. The two should be complementary advantages.

Yes. It is good to see the team remake their scouting and analytic departments. We don't really know if they are leading here, catching up, or just doing what everyone else is doing. To use it as a justification for a point that is basically "see we spend money here, we don't need to add international allocations" is just wrong.

[andyb]

Keith Law on Ohtani scouting wise. Interesting perspective in that the fastball may be pretty straight but his slider and splitter are also plus pitches to make it effective. As a hitter scouts seem to like him but think he may not develop if he only hits part-time. 80 speed is also interesting to go with 70 power as a tool.

Given the scouting report there is something in me that thinks his best path may be as a right fielder and high leverage reliever. He does not have clean mechanics and the reliance on a splitter could make starting pitching a path to TJ surgery. It is just so rare to see 80 speed, 70 power and 80 arm strength in a package even if the hit tool is weaker at this point.

Law -- Scouting Shohei Ohtani: MLB is gaining an ace, but can he hit in the...

[zambonir]

This almost seems like baseball, collectively, trying to depress his value, not for economic reasons, but to convince him not to play as often as he'd like. Which may be fair enough, but I suspect the team that get him will be the one that is most open-minded and willing to gamble. Highest risk, highest reward.

Because yeah, not using him often enough as a hitter would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. A big reason why pitchers are bad at hitting is because they simply don't get to hit enough (in games or BP). And if he's just an adequate bench player offensively, that's still a nice bonus. The reliever idea is intriguing but I think there is zero chance a team could talk him into that. Maybe later.

[andyb]

The reliever idea would be starting in the field full time while also letting him pitch, maybe even close. Though it would certainly need an organization thinking out of the box to have your right fielder be a closer. Just warming him up while he is in the game could be challenging to the point where he really could only start innings and when his lineup spot is close there is no way he could make his way to the bullpen in time.

Starting is still the most likely path. And unfortunately LA and NY offer the most marketing opportunities even if the bonus is minimal.

[tom81]

A NL team could use him as a regular starter but with a very low pitch count so he only throws 60-70 pitches a start. He could then finish that game in the field and still theoretically be available in that game to pitch again if needed. It would open the possibility of him pitching innings 1-4, play RF or 1B in inning 5 and then come back and pitch in inning 6...

Since he is your 13th fielder you could have a standard long man on his scheduled starting days who would expect to go 2-4 innings that day and be available as an extra pitcher on other days. I really think Ohtani provides more value to a NL team than a AL team.

[Austinfan]

Since he'll be low cost the first year, a team can try to let him pitch and play the OF, if he's injured, oh well, if it works, pony up on the extension.
In effect, the risk would be on him.

[andyb]

In effect, the risk would be on him

Not really. Any team that signs him controls him for 6 years. Are you saying it is good baseball policy to take your heralded free agent and use him in a way where he will get hurt just because he is inexpensive? His 6 years of play if he is a number one starter has huge value whether he is paid the minimum or $30 million a year. No team would want to risk that.

[Austinfan]

They would if that's what it takes to sign him.
Better the risk he gets injured on a low cost deal than he go elsewhere.

[tom81]

I think a team would rather give him the chance to succeed as a pitcher and a hitter than not give him the chance. The only way he will sign with your team is if you promise to give him that chance. Reneging on that promise would damage your reputation with future free agents which I think is more damaging to your team than the loss of that player due to injury.

[zambonir]

One of the reasons he was coming out early is because he cares more about choosing the perfect situation than he does about money. I do think it is true that if a team was paying him $100 million guaranteed they would want more say in how he's used, but he could still take $20 million less from a team that seemed more openminded.

It's also true that if he blows out his arm you can theoretically walk away though that was no less true of say, Strasburg.

[California_Dreamin]

Reports are that today or tomorrow Ohtani and his reps will announce which teams are still in and which are out in the upcoming negotiations. Its also been reported that 3 teams [Marlins were only one mentioned] that didn't submit the question application, which was the first step in these negotiations.

[zambonir]

We'll probably be able to stop talking about Ohtani soon.

Preller says Padres hopeful for invitation to meet with Shohei Ohtani

Sources familiar with the process say a number of teams will be notified before the end of the weekend if they have made the first cut. Those teams will begin in-person pitches to Ohtani next week in Los Angeles.