July 2, 2018 International Signing Period

[andyb]

Athletic on Yusei Kikuchi. Seems ready to come over for next season. New posting system would mean a $17 million fee on a $100 million contract.

Not sure if the Padres have any advantage, especially if the bidding gets that high. And a reminder that we still don't have any left-handed starting pitching.

Starter Yusei Kikuchi could be the Padres' next Japanese...

[julio]

It's well past time for this thread, since most of the recent discussion in the 2017 Signing Period thread is about 2018 candidates.

[Squire]

Starlyn Castillo, RHP, Dominican Republic
Size: 5-11, 210, R-R
Trainer: Luis Mejia
Games: 9 TBF, 4 SO, 1 BB, 2 H, 1 HBP

Gaston and Castillo, who turned 16 shortly after the showcase on Feb. 24, both blew up the radar gun. Castillo sat at 92-96 mph and hit 97 once, with armside run and late riding life when he pitched up in the zone. He generates velocity with a quick arm and strong legs on a relatively filled out, physically mature frame for his age.

Castillo showed a tremendous fastball for his age and did strike out four of the nine hitters he faced, but he threw scattered strikes with bouts of wildness and lacked feel for his slider. The Phillies are the favorites to sign Castillo, whose bonus is expected to end up in the $1.5 million area.

Thank you for starting this thread. I had been thinking the same thing. I'll add some ballast to the thread.

[Squire]

Alexeis Azuaje, Venezuela
Vitals: 5-10, 160, R-R
Trainer: Carlos Yanez
60 yards: 6.41 seconds
Games: 1-for-7, 4 SO

Azuaje, a 15-year-old connected to the Phillies, ran the fastest 60-yard dash at the showcase. Azuaje showed plus-plus speed and good athleticism, making a nice diving catch on a ball hit to his right at shortstop. Azuaje hit solid line drives during batting practice but had trouble making contact in games.

Ben Badler recently connected us with this Venezuelan Shortstop

[Squire]

Fernando Ortega – RHP – 6’4″ 161lbs
Ortega started the showcase struggling with his control. After getting a groundout to third base to start his day, he walked three straight hitters. Then he settled in, getting a flyout to center field followed by three straight strikeouts to end his outing, including shortstops Alejandro Pie and Noelvi Marte back-to-back. In all, Ortega was arguably the most impressive pitcher of the group, with a lot of arrows pointing in the right direction. He has a tall, underdeveloped frame. Once Ortega gets stronger, that should help him repeat his delivery better to throw more strikes. At 16, Ortega already throws 87-91 mph. Given his arm speed and plenty of room to add weight to his frame, Ortega should gain more velocity over the next few years. Ortega’s secondary pitches also stuck out. His best offspeed weapon was his curveball, a swing-and-miss pitch in the mid-70s with sharp break and good shape. His changeup was inconsistent but he showed feel for that pitch too, getting a swing-and-miss on it against righthanded-hitting Agustin Ramirez

This is the other pitcher with whom we are connected.

[andyb]

Our 5'11" pitching prospect weighs almost 50 pounds more than our 6'4" prospect.

[andyb]

The 2018-2019 pools are out. We have the smallest of course (before trading for potentially up to 75% more). We are at 3.949 million. Meaning we can trade for a little more than $2.9 million more (though probably $2.75 million realistically). Good news is that these have some small upward inflation adjustments (we would have started at $4.75 but that dropped to $3.75 but got an inflation bump to $3.949.

Teams under the penalty next year are: Reds, Athletics, Padres, Cardinals, Braves, Whilte Sox, Astros, Nationals. Fewer clubs than last year but enough so the price of allocations should not be exorbitantly high. In 2019 the allocation price goes up as no teams (except maybe the Braves) are under penalty.

2018-19 MLB International Bonus Pools

Edit - thanks for the merge. Could not find the other topic.

[andyb]

July 2 is a little more than 2 weeks away. Just pushing this thread to the top once more.

[andyb]

Noticed that the Yankees on June 15th traded Chad Whitmer (23 year old 10th round pick from last year - likely a non prospect) to the Brewers for international pool allocations. Not sure if this is for last year's pool where I guess the Brewers might have been trading unused allocations. If it is for this year the price is still pretty low.

Yankees Acquire International Pool Space From Brewers

[Squire]

July 2, 2018 BA Preview went up today for the NLEast teams. Six names associated with the Phillies

RHP Starlyn Castillo, D.R. (Expected 1.5M)
RHP Fernando Ortega, D.R (Expected 500K)
LHP Joalbert Angulo, Venezuela
SS Alexeis Azuaje, Venezuela
C Javier Vina, Venezuela
C Andrick Nava, Venezuela

[julio]

July 2, 2018 BA Preview went up today for the NLEast teams. Six names associated with the Phillies

RHP Starlyn Castillo, D.R. (Expected 1.5M)
RHP Fernando Ortega, D.R (Expected 500K)
LHP Joalbert Angulo, Venezuela
SS Alexeis Azuaje, Venezuela
C Javier Vina, Venezuela
C Andrick Nava, Venezuela

Spreadsheet's ready! Just have to fill in the details, copy and paste!

[andyb]

That seems to be a list that will fit comfortably in their $3.949 million pool. They still have the ability to trade for up to $2.9 million more. The teams under the penalty for 2018-2019 once again are: Reds, Athletics, Padres, Cardinals, Braves, Whilte Sox, Astros, Nationals. Orioles of course are always open for business in the allocation trading game.

[Squire]

BA's Top 50 July 2, 2018 Prospects list is out and only Starlyn Castillo is ranked (#16).

[andyb]

Matt Winkelman has us linked to 3 that are ranked on the BA list:

In addition to Starlyn Castillo (16) they have Fernando Ortega ranked 32 and Joalbert Angulo ranked 42.

[Squire]

He's right. In my haste, I forgot to hit the expand the list button before I searched for "PHILLIES" 3 of the top 42 is pretty dang good

[Squire]

Badler says we are signing another dude who could have signed last year. RHP Wilson Gherbaz from VZ

[andyb]

Fangraphs top 35 is up. Castillio is 18 for them and Ortega 33. They have the Ortega bonus a bit higher at $575K.
https://www.fangraphs.com/scoutboard.aspx?draft=2018int&type=0&pos=all&team=all&sort=0,a

[bigegypt0417]

NL East preview...

NL East 2018 International Signing Preview

[Squire]

This goes live at 9AM today.

[Squire]

Jeez.....BA has already updated their signing tracker and given us the six (6) guys (other than Cherbaz) already.