July 2, 2018 International Signing Period

andyb 2018-07-04 13:59:56 UTC #62

Nothing new, but some interesting background on the Phillies going into "non-traditional" countries. Lots on Kuznetsov. Although I would say efforts in Australia and especially Mexico are probably long overdue as the team has signed players (with some limited success like Brad Harman and Sebastian Valle) from those countries in the past.

Squire 2018-07-04 15:41:13 UTC #63

Don’t sleep on Mani Boekhaut....the Pride of The Hague

andyb 2018-07-04 17:50:31 UTC #64

The Padres even under the penalty seem to be intent on spending their $5.5 million pool. 16 guys listed in the MLB tracker at exactly $300K. No other team in the penalty has signed more than 6. While these penalties will go away next year, it clearly shows the value of being able to make bonus offers of at least $400K to $500K to mid-level prospects.

While it has not yet turned into major league success, AJ Preller has certainly built a pretty impressive minor league system. For a guy who has made a number of arguably bad trades, it does look like his organization is looking up.

Austinfan 2018-07-04 18:33:24 UTC #65

Rik Aalbert Blijleven did ok for himself, of course, he grew up in California, but it does suggests the gene pool has potential.

fish 2018-07-04 18:51:32 UTC #66

Boekhoudt scouting video (granted, it’s from when he was 12 lol)
https://www.baseballfactory.com/little-league-events/llws/2012/caribbean/siamani-boekhoudt/

Squire 2018-07-05 16:03:07 UTC #67

Phillies have traded LHP Elniery Garcia to the cardinals for International Allocation money

andyb 2018-07-05 16:15:12 UTC #68

Team in the penalty with a $5 million pool and only one $300K signing announced so far. Given the announcements so far and likely adding Ortega for about $575K I am assuming they'll need at least $500K to sign everyone currently announced.

Good trade for a guy we have given up on that probably could use a change of scenery.

LoneStarPhan 2018-07-05 16:36:01 UTC #69

A link on the Garcia for Bonus $$$ deal.

Austinfan 2018-07-05 18:30:55 UTC #70

My suspicion is we'll see a couple more deals like this over the next month or so.
I expect them to pick up close to $2M, clear out a few marginal prospects and make room for promotions.

el-pietro 2018-07-06 12:58:44 UTC #71

Theres an interview with Sal on the "Effectively Wild" podcast by Fangraphs today, talking about Willians Astudillio and I think the July 2nd signing period. I'm only just at the begging of the interview

schooldoc 2018-07-07 14:26:38 UTC #72

In case this was not mentioned elsewhere, Todd Zolecki reported that the Phillies traded LHP Elniery Garcia to St.Louis for international signing pool money.

Garcia showed some promise before his PED suspension and hasn't gotten many people out since he came back.

andyb 2018-07-27 23:48:24 UTC #73

Interesting development in Baltimore that they are now seen as the leading bidder for Victor Victor Mesa, a Cuban who just became eligible and who MLB.com says might be the number one prospect in this year's class. He is 22 so I imagine less risk. I guess this is a way for Baltimore to spend their $5 million plus pool without doing a lot of scouting and they do have some cash now.

And in a development sure to confuse announcers everywhere, his 16-year-old brother is named Victor Mesa Jr. and would have ranked in the teens on the MLB.com list. And might sign with the O's as well. It helps to have $5 million to spend when most teams only have a million or two left in their international pool.

andyb 2018-07-29 15:30:02 UTC #74

Allocations continue to be traded inexpensively. Yankees trade a AA LH reliever for $1.5 million after another small deal a couple of days ago with the Cardinals for $1 million. The difference now is that teams seem to be trading for larger allocation amounts rather than merely $250K or $500K.

andyb 2018-07-31 20:33:49 UTC #75

Orioles pick up another $2.5 million in allocations in Gausman deal after getting $250K in the Brach deal.

They better get the Mesa brothers now or they will be in serious trouble. Must have like $8 million available now.

gmwannabe 2018-08-04 13:57:13 UTC #76

anyone hear anything on Ortega yet? did the phils lose him? it would be interesting to hear a little about the process in this situation, where it was stated that the phils were in on this player but haven't signed him. i wonder if other teams are lurking to see if they can move in. Or maybe Sal's word is stronger than that.
gm

Squire 2018-08-04 14:41:40 UTC #77

BA lists Ortega as signed by the Phillies. I trust them more than the Phillies PR department. Significantly

fish 2018-08-14 20:39:50 UTC #78

Somehow I missed that signings out of Mexico have been banned so far this signing period until they can get a better deal with the Mexican league.

andyb 2018-08-14 20:53:47 UTC #79

I know I mentioned it a few weeks ago in another thread. MLB got tired of the kickbacks involved where something like 75% of the bonuses went to the Mexican team and not the player.

https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-citing-corruption-fraud-mlb-bans-transactions-mexican-league-051932452.html

I think there is one million dollar guy out there that is tied to another team that is waiting to be signed. But given we signed several players last year I assume we will try to do so again this year. Manuel Urias has pitched pretty well in the DSL.

gmwannabe 2018-08-18 13:21:30 UTC #80

did i see where the phils signed 2 more latins on the 15th? anyone have any news on these 2. since they signed on a 2019 contract is this for a new thread? not sure. could be 2 more developmental arms.
gm

julio 2018-08-18 14:40:23 UTC #81

Jim Peyton at PhuturePhillies reported these signings. Nothing on the milb.com pages, nothing in BA database, so I don't know positions, ages (birthdates), nationalities, physical details, etc. JIm's reports are very reliable - he gets info at the complex sometimes long before anything appears anywhere else.

As best I understand it, these guys' signing bonuses come out of the July 2018-19 pool, notwithstanding that they signed Future Services Contracts. Their seven years of servitude don't start until the 2019 season, but their Rule 5 eligibility is driven by the date they signed the contract.