July 2, 2018 International Signing Period

[zambonir]

One assumes there's a reason. This is also the year they lost it from the free agents right? (Though they will again.)

[allentown]

Yes, you can't trade for extra allocation in advance of an international season.

[Austinfan]

I presume you can't sign players without having money available (or do you have to get the money by June 30?) in which case the Phillies have targeted one or more players.

[andyb]

Possible this is a byproduct of the new Mexican League agreement as several prospects became available in the last few weeks and there may not be many teams that could go higher than $500K.

The signing that caused all the chaos was the Cubs signing Florencio Serrano for $1.2 million with 75% of that going to his club and only $300K to the player as the Cubs were in the penalty, Now the kickback is only 35%. We could offer the kind $500K with another $175K going to his club potentially. The Brewers also were linked to a catcher (Villalobos) that was ranked 34th on the BA Top 50. Serrano might be as old as 19 by now (he was a 2017 signing originally and he had to wait a year because he played a little HS baseball as a freshman in Texas).

Cubs Were Not at Fault for Illegal Mexican League Signing That Cost Them Their...

[fish]

Fun fact- next signing period teams will be limited to only be able to trade for up to 60% of their starting allocation pool.

[bigegypt0417]

any indication how much they got?

[andyb]

I think we had about $900K left before we traded the slot to Miami for Realmuto. Assuming they got that slot back (and none of the deals were for double slots), then they probably have something in the $500K-$700K range unless Tejada Jr. got more than say $200K.

Hard to know exactly of course.

[andyb]

Yolbert Sanchez (Cuban SS - Good defense/questionable offense) is still out there too.

Yolbert Sanchez cleared to sign in MLB

Plus the Taiwanese infielder we were in on: Lin An-Ko.

[andyb]

PhuturePhillies has us signing a P named Victor Lopez on 3/30. Can't find anything on him, so he is likely not the extra signing that they might do with the extra international slot they acquired.

[julio]

PhuturePhillies has us signing a P named Victor Lopez on 3/30. Can't find anything on him, so he is likely not the extra signing that they might do with the extra international slot they acquired.

I figure we have to wait until mlb.com lists the signing in the transaction, because they'll have a player page on him then - date of birth, nationality, height/weight, RH vs. LH. As of now, it's a name. I added Lopez to my list this morning, with the signing date as tentative (the official dates often are later than what Jim reports from Clearwater - I suspect there's some Commissioner's Office approval involved), but all the other columns are blank.

[andyb]

Fangraphs with the first part of a series about the value of international dollars in talent acquisition. A return of 650% was the conclusion for the current bonus-limited system. Part 2 will look at classes from individual teams.

This definitely makes the case for spending as much as possible internationally, even if the ROI stabilizes a bit. Cost of trading for allocations will also increase without teams in the penalty, though these numbers indicate it is still something worth doing. It is yet another way for cash-rich teams like the Phillies to take advantage of smaller market teams.

We Analyzed the Value of International Signing Bonus Money

[andyb]

In the category of where we could spend that last bonus slot we traded for, MLB just posted a list of 34 Cuban players eligible to be signed now under the new MLB-Cuba agreement. These are all prospects that might wait till July also, and many are 3rd tier prospects. Kiley McDaniel noted these 4 stood out:

Sergio Barthelemy, CF (25, big raw/arm)
Norge Vera, RHP (17, 6'6)
Cesar Prieto, 2B (19, ROY in Cuban league this year)
Yoelkis Cespedes, CF (brother of Yoenis)

Kiley McDaniel (kileymcd)

[julio]

PhuturePhillies has us signing a P named Victor Lopez on 3/30. Can't find anything on him, so he is likely not the extra signing that they might do with the extra international slot they acquired.

I figure we have to wait until mlb.com lists the signing in the transaction, because they'll have a player page on him then - date of birth, nationality, height/weight, RH vs. LH. As of now, it's a name. I added Lopez to my list this morning, with the signing date as tentative (the official dates often are later than what Jim reports from Clearwater - I suspect there's some Commissioner's Office approval involved), but all the other columns are blank.

Lopez signing has now shown up on mlb.com transactions page. RHP, Dominican, born 9/2/99, so 19 years old.

Also appearing today:

4/2:
Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent RHP Saul Alcala to a minor league contract. Alcala's a RHP Venezuelan, born 11/7/00, so 18 years old now.

My list currently has 39 signees:

Player	Position	Signed	Nationality	Birth	Age
Angulo, Joalbert	LHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	10/30/01	16
Azuaje, Alexeis	2B	7/2/18	Venezuela	4/24/02	16
Castellano, Eiberson	RHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	6/9/01	17
Castillo, Starlyn	RHP	7/2/18	Dominican	2/4/02	16
Corona, Yeuri	OF	7/2/18	Dominican	9/7/01	16
Diaz, Victor	C	7/2/18	Dominican	11/25/01	16
Gherbaz, Wilson	RHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	9/30/00	17
Gil, Reiberth	OF	7/2/18	Venezuela	4/9/02	16
Ibarra, Neyker	LHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	3/30/02	16
Nava, Andrick	C	7/2/18	Venezuela	10/6/01	16
Pichardo, Kelvin	SS	7/2/18	Dominican	10/15/01	16
Rivas, Jonathan	RHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	9/1/01	16
Vegas, Luis	RHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	8/5/01	16
Vina, Javier	C	7/2/18	Venezuela	3/25/02	16
Ortega, Fernando	RHP	7/6/18	Dominican	10/10/01	16
Pineda, Leandro	OF	7/6/18	Venezuela	6/4/02	16
Hsu, Chi-Ling	RHP	7/12/18	Taiwan	8/9/99	18
Ventura, Ezequiel	RHP	8/7/18	Venezuela	6/20/02	16
Rondon, Carlos	SS	8/10/18	Venezuela	4/18/02	16
Wang, Bruce	C	8/27/18	China	9/6/99	18
Astudillo, Hermes	RHP	9/14/18	Venezuela	3/2/02	16
Valdez, Joel	LHP	9/22/18	Dominican	4/28/00	18
Adames, Cristofer	RHP	9/27/18	Dominican	8/31/99	19
Reyes, Carlo	RHP	10/8/18	Dominican	7/4/98	20
Cairo, Victor	C	10/31/18	Venezuela	4/17/01	17
Escobar, Derek	OF	11/7/18	Cuba	1/28/02	16
Guaramaco, Jose	LHP	11/8/18	Venezuela	11/16/00	17
Valero, Carlos	RHP	11/10/18	Venezuela	4/10/99	19
Brazoban, Camilo	RHP	11/16/18	Dominican	10/15/98	20
Brito, Erick	SS	11/29/18	Venezuela	5/25/02	16
Mejia, Adony	C	12/7/18	Dominican	6/9/01	17
Blanc, Raulyn	SS	12/14/18	Dominican	7/10/01	17
Malaver, Jhongel	RHP	2/3/19	Venezuela	1/27/01	18
Soriano, Christopher	LHP	2/11/19	Dominican	9/17/01	17
Pediet, Fausto	RHP	2/23/19	Dominican	12/4/00	18
Rodriguez, Jonathan	C	2/26/19	Venezuela	5/17/02	16
Tejada, Miguel	OF	3/3/19	Dominican	12/17/01	17
Lopez, Victor	RHP	3/30/19	Dominican	9/2/99	19
Alcala, Saul	RHP	4/2/19	Venezuela	11/7/00	18

[schillingfan]

So great, Trump wants to Nix new rule that Cuban players don’t have to defect or declare their intentions to have residency in the U.S.

[julio]

So great, Trump wants to Nix new rule that Cuban players don’t have to defect or declare their intentions to have residency in the U.S.

Everything that Trump touches... dies. He has the Sadim touch.

[andyb]

More on the Cuban situation. Hope this does not mean we have no good place to spend our last amount of international money:

MLB’s Cuba Deal Just Got Scuttled

[julio]

More on the Cuban situation. Hope this does not mean we have no good place to spend our last amount of international money:

It most probably means exactly that.

MLB organizations are dominated by so-called "conservatives" (actually, corporatists), who mess around in Congress over worker's rights, etc., and at least tacitly support the clown in the White House. I can't cry too many tears to see the orange monster sticking it to them. What I said above: everything he touches, dies.

[julio]

PhuturePhillies (Jim Peyton) is reporting three additional international signings, as of 4/25 (signing dates will probably change due to MLB review/approval process). All listed as pitchers:

Lozano, Fernando
Mijares, Douglas
Petit, Jonathan

Lozano is a 19-year old RHP, who pitched for Tijuana in the Mexican League last summer:

Fernando Lozano Stats & Scouting Report - Baseball America

Ensenadense Fernando Lozano firma con Philadelphia

Mijares I can't find much about, except a Facebook page:

Douglas Mijares

Nothing at all on Petit. When these signings get approved by MLB and posted to the Phils transactions page, we'll know birthdates, countries or origin, etc.

[andyb]

The new Mexican league agreement probably delayed that one signing. Hopefully there is some money behind these signings as we try to spend our last $500K or so.

[julio]

Updated list, with all signings through 4/30/19 5/13/19. At this point in time, the phillies.com transactions lists are consistent with PhuturePhillies reports - nobody else "in the pipeline" awaiting New York approval.

Player	Position	Signed	Nationality	Birth	Age
Angulo, Joalbert	LHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	10/30/01	16
Azuaje, Alexeis	2B	7/2/18	Venezuela	4/24/02	16
Castellano, Eiberson	RHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	6/9/01	17
Castillo, Starlyn	RHP	7/2/18	Dominican	2/4/02	16
Corona, Yeuri	OF	7/2/18	Dominican	9/7/01	16
Diaz, Victor	C	7/2/18	Dominican	11/25/01	16
Gherbaz, Wilson	RHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	9/30/00	17
Gil, Reiberth	OF	7/2/18	Venezuela	4/9/02	16
Ibarra, Neyker	LHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	3/30/02	16
Nava, Andrick	C	7/2/18	Venezuela	10/6/01	16
Pichardo, Kelvin	SS	7/2/18	Dominican	10/15/01	16
Rivas, Jonathan	RHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	9/1/01	16
Vegas, Luis	RHP	7/2/18	Venezuela	8/5/01	16
Vina, Javier	C	7/2/18	Venezuela	3/25/02	16
Ortega, Fernando	RHP	7/6/18	Dominican	10/10/01	16
Pineda, Leandro	OF	7/6/18	Venezuela	6/4/02	16
Hsu, Chi-Ling	RHP	7/12/18	Taiwan	8/9/99	18
Ventura, Ezequiel	RHP	8/7/18	Venezuela	6/20/02	16
Rondon, Carlos	SS	8/10/18	Venezuela	4/18/02	16
Wang, Bruce	C	8/27/18	China	9/6/99	18
Astudillo, Hermes	RHP	9/14/18	Venezuela	3/2/02	16
Valdez, Joel	LHP	9/22/18	Dominican	4/28/00	18
Adames, Cristofer	RHP	9/27/18	Dominican	8/31/99	19
Reyes, Carlo	RHP	10/8/18	Dominican	7/4/98	20
Cairo, Victor	C	10/31/18	Venezuela	4/17/01	17
Escobar, Derek	OF	11/7/18	Cuba	1/28/02	16
Guaramaco, Jose	LHP	11/8/18	Venezuela	11/16/00	17
Valero, Carlos	RHP	11/10/18	Venezuela	4/10/99	19
Brazoban, Camilo	RHP	11/16/18	Dominican	10/15/98	20
Brito, Erick	SS	11/29/18	Venezuela	5/25/02	16
Mejia, Adony	C	12/7/18	Dominican	6/9/01	17
Blanc, Raulyn	SS	12/14/18	Dominican	7/10/01	17
Malaver, Jhongel	RHP	2/3/19	Venezuela	1/27/01	18
Soriano, Christopher	LHP	2/11/19	Dominican	9/17/01	17
Pediet, Fausto	RHP	2/23/19	Dominican	12/4/00	18
Rodriguez, Jonathan	C	2/26/19	Venezuela	5/17/02	16
Tejada, Miguel	OF	3/3/19	Dominican	12/17/01	17
Lopez, Victor	RHP	3/30/19	Dominican	9/2/99	19
Alcala, Saul	RHP	4/2/19	Venezuela	11/7/00	18
Lozano, Fernando	RHP	4/25/19	Mexico	1/11/00	19
Petit, Jonathan	RHP	4/26/19	Venezuela	4/19/01	18
Mijares, Douglas	RHP	4/26/19	Venezuela	4/27/00	19
Hinestroza, Camilo	LHP	4/30/19	Panama	1/7/00	19
Medina, Oswald	RHP	5/9/19	Venezuela	12/2/01	17
Mendoza, Raul	RHP	5/11/19	Dominican	12/9/00	18
Anciani, Norman	RHP	5/13/19	Venezuela	4/23/02	17