July 2, 2019 International Signing Period

[andyb]

In my mind his weakness is not in identifying the top talent. It seems to be in either persuading them to sign with the Phillies or (in the case of Jhailyn Ortiz) negotiating the right level of bonus. I am not against 2 million dollar bonuses or even 4 million. It just seems that whenever we give a large bonus there is evidence that we overpaid by the time the signing is actually announced.

[zambonir]

It's very hard to know how his job really works. OTOH he hasn't always had the money and support, OTOH, as you say, he's still managed to overpay. We know that the pre-Klentak regime was not sufficiently committed to both amateur and international; is it possible Klentak still doesn't put enough emphasis on the latter? It seems like revamping the scouting department and analytics would only be minimally effective when it comes to the way international works. But Minitti is in charge of that now, and has kept Sal this long, so if they make a big change now it would make me wonder why they didn't do it two years ago (which is also true of all the other jobs).

[gmwannabe]

i have always thought on Andy's lines, the persuasion part. Maybe the phils name is not that popular in the latin area. Sal has been around so long that i'm sure he knows all, or most of all, the Buscones and Traniers. so that should not be a problem. maybe the "cheapness of the organizaton is still thought of in this area. The yankees, obviously have the main name in the latin area and are known to spend. I'm not sure of the other main teams down there, Padres? Seattle. Dodgers? Braves? nationals? Don't know. i do know that it would be real nice to get a real top 5 player for once.
gm

[fish]

Maybe the phils name is not that popular in the latin area. Sal has been around so long that i'm sure he knows all, or most of all, the Buscones and Traniers. so that should not be a problem. maybe the "cheapness of the organizaton is still thought of in this area.

Not that he wouldn’t be in tune with cultural nuance, but it’s not so hard to imagine that locals want to deal with other locals when it comes to big money deals and commitments.

[Philsmania]

If we landed anyone promising from Venezuela these days who is under the radar (i.e. not an obvious top athlete), you won't know for two years.

It's such a mess there that you'd have to get the kid to the DSL before even knowing what you have, I doubt they're playing on a regular basis there or in exile (given the closest countries primarily play soccer).

At times, I think part of the Phillies' problem with international talent was that they made a big investment in trying to become the big dog in Venezuela only to see the country blow up and descend into near failed statehood.

[Squire]

I don't know where he gets them but Jim Peyton at PhuturePhililes.com noted the following transactions this morning:

2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Kliubert Avila as an international free agent (11/27/19)
2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Erick Barria as an international free agent (2/7/20)
2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Estibenzon Jimenez as an international free agent (11/27/19)
2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Jared Loyo as an international free agent (12/27/19)
2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Ronny Ramirez as an international free agent (11/23/19)
2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Pedro Reyes as an international free agent (12/18/19)
2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Albert Rodriguez as an international free agent (11/25/19)
2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Gabriel Tirado as an international free agent (12/5/19)
2/22/2020 – Phillies signed Edgar Zuniga as an international free agent (1/4/20)

[Mod's note: Moved from Minor League signings thread. - J]

[julio]

Squire - Jim has contact(s) in the Phils' Clearwater offices, who provide him with transactions information. His signed dates don't always agree with what eventually gets reported publicly (probably due to delays in the Commissioner's Office), but he's reliable as to names, and close on the dates. I'll update my list, and be on the lookout for updates to old mlb.com transactions pages.

UPDATE:

Avila, a Venezuelan, signed on 11/27, per this Instagram posting:

Loyo, Reyes, and Zuniga, all Mexican pitchers, signed officially on 1/4/20, per this report:

Tres lanzadores veracruzanos son firmados por la organización de los Phillies de...

Erick Barria, a Panamanian shortstop, apparently signed 2/7, per the linked tweet:

@chiricanosc4 Instagram post (carousel) En las instalaciones de Pata de Loco...

Jaime Saldaña on Twitter

Gabriel Tirado is a Venezuelan outfielder who attended the February 2019 MLB Trainer Partnership showcase. Tirado apparently committed to the Phils several months ago - don't have a signing date confirmed:

Added by @aquibeisbol Instagram post Mirada atenta ante los consejos de un...

[fish]

Apparently Kliubert was pretty well regarded as a 15 year old in 2018. Must have gone off track for whatever reason.

Ben Badler, Baseball America on Instagram: “Venezuelan catcher Kliubert Avila,...

[andyb]

A reminder that the Yhoswar Garcia saga is supposed to end in "March". That is when the articles said he would sign. Not sure if MLB gave him a signing moratorium or something like that, but we should know more in a few weeks. To me the most important thing is the level of his bonus. Obviously we want it to be smaller so we can sign another top prospect. But part of me still wants it in the medium range (like $500K) because that would suggest he has talent worthy of a large bonus. Hopefully anyway.

[nycphils]

What in the Phillies history tells you “higher bonus equals more talent”?

[allentown]

Good point. We may well be in face-saving mode here.

[andyb]

We should find out because if he is any sort of prospect he should be in GCL this year. Most million dollar bonus guys get their start in GCL and since he is at least a year older, it will be a really bad sign if he is not there this year. And if he is there, he will be an 18-year-old player and should have higher expectations than the 17-year-olds. If he is in DSL, however, the face-saving explanations have more credence.

[bkeich]

It seems that every year we hear that we didn’t get any of the top guys because those guys are already really signed based on agreements with their caretakers in this shockingly corrupt system.

Any chance that we have been linked to any of the top guys for this July? Or are we once again not really setup with the people that actually make money to get anyone special.

[andyb]

From Squire's post above:
The two big Phillies international signings this year are expected to be Yamal Flores, a power-hitting corner outfielder with a strong arm from the Dominican Republic, and Ricardo Perez, a lefthanded-hitting catcher from Venezuela. Perez has shown good bat control with the loft in his swing to grow into more power and projects to stick behind the plate with an arm that has ticked up to a slightly above-average tool. He trains with Yasser Mendez.

[bkeich]

Yea, I guess my question is are these guys top 10-20 or just top 100. I know it may really be too early and it is hard to “rank” them, but it just seems like we aren’t really around for those top 10 guys. There is an argument that our approach has been spread the money around, but honestly that just seems like an excuse for the top guys are already spoken for when we get in the room.

[julio]

Here's the list of signees I have, as of now. The mlb.com transactions pages were updated within the past day, so the signed dates are as shown there. As of now, 34 names:

Player	Position	Signed	Nationality	Birth	Age at Signing
Aldegheri, Samuel	LHP	7/2/19	Italy	9/19/01	17
Cabrera, Esteban	RHP	7/2/19	Venezuela	2/3/03	16
Cabrera, Jean	RHP	7/2/19	Venezuela	10/20/01	17
Colmenarez, Jose	C	7/2/19	Venezuela	11/24/02	16
Gonzalez, Diego	SS	7/2/19	Venezuela	6/7/03	16
Graterol, Enyer	2B	7/2/19	Venezuela	1/18/03	16
Hernandez, Fernando	IF	7/2/19	Venezuela	3/30/03	16
Hernandez, Jean	RHP	7/2/19	Dominican	10/22/02	16
Linares, Diego	RHP	7/2/19	Venezuela	9/29/02	16
Mercalina, Raibiently	SS	7/2/19	Curacao	2/16/01	18
Pertuz, Jackie	C	7/2/19	Columbia	11/1/02	16
Querales, Jesus	THP	7/2/19	Venezuela	2/18/03	16
Rosario, Ricardo	OF	7/2/19	Venezuela	2/8/03	16
Sevilla, Jehisbert	SS	7/2/19	Venezuela	3/21/03	16
Silva, Brahian	C	7/2/19	Venezuela	12/30/02	16
Torres, Santiago	OF	7/2/19	Venezuela	9/20/02	16
Vasquez, Randy	SS	7/2/19	Dominican	12/16/02	16
Velasquez, Giuseppe	RHP	7/2/19	Venezuela	4/30/03	16
Armenta, Erubiel	LHP	7/11/19	Mexico	3/11/00	19
Burke, Christopher	C	7/16/19	Australia	8/16/01	17
Martinez, Jarol	SS	7/19/19	Venezuela	7/19/03	16
Fuenmayor, Javier	RHP	8/2/19	Venezuela	1/20/03	16
Mendez, Jorge	C	8/2/19	Venezuela	8/1/03	16
Leanez, Jose	CF	8/4/19	Venezuela	1/13/03	16
Estanista, Jaydenn	RHP	11/8/19	Curacao	10/3/01	18
Ramirez, Ronny	LHP	11/25/19	Dominican	11/3/02	17
Rodriguez, Albert	CF	11/25/19	Dominican	12/11/02	16
Avila, Kliubert	C	11/27/19	Venezuela	5/19/03	16
Jimenez, Estibenzon	RHP	11/27/19	Venezuela	1/25/02	17
Tirado, Gabriel	OF	12/4/19	Venezuela	9/6/02	17
Reyes, Pedro	RHP	1/4/20	Mexico	11/26/02	17
Loyo, Jared	LHP	1/4/20	Mexico	1/14/03	16
Zuniga, Edgar	RHP	1/4/20	Mexico	9/15/02	17
Barria, Erick	SS	2/7/20	Panama	1/31/03	17

[andyb]

One more prospect out there:

Yoelkis Cespedes To Be Declared Free Agent

He might wait until July 2nd, though since he is a bit older (and was “more of a high six- or low seven-figure [signing bonus] type of talent”), he might be enticed to sign for that bonus now.

[Squire]

.....so the Phillies signed 18 year old Yhoswar Garcia, OF today. He's from Venezuela so they may not list his bonus

[bigegypt0417]

18 years old is better than we thought...right?

[andyb]

Yhoswar Garcia

The original bonus is still in the article. Hopefully that is not correct. And yes, one year is better than three. Assume he goes straight to GCL if there is a GCL season.