October-December 2016 Minor League Transactions

julio 2016-11-04 03:58:40 UTC #21

Yet another signee shows up in the transactions:

10/25/16: Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent RHP Alexis Araujo to a minor league contract.

Appears to be a 17-year-old Venezuelan. Here's a spanish-language page from Zulia, reporting on the signing.

gmwannabe 2016-11-04 10:55:21 UTC #22

i can't translate Spanish, but at 97 Centemitros (2.54 centimeters per inch) the kid is 230+ inches tall !!! he is going to be the tallest person in the world. let alone pitcher. good to see Sal is still at it. hopefully Matos and this young man are successful. i hope my math is incorrect.
gm

allentown 2016-11-04 12:45:24 UTC #23

You multiplied instead of dividing in making the cotnversion. It doesn't make the translation any better -- that's just under a meter, making him 3 feet tall.

julio 2016-11-04 12:49:01 UTC #24

Google translates it as, "right-handed pitcher, one meter 97 centimeters tall (6.5 feet), 204 pounds..."

That's one meter PLUS 97 centimeters, or 197 centimeters. So, about 6'6", 200-odd pounds, at age 17. Big, not real skinny, at a young age.

Austinfan 2016-11-04 13:01:09 UTC #25

julio:

julio:

andyb:

BA transactions has us signing OF Luis Guillermo Matos. Maybe a relative of Malvin Matos? He is active (2-9) in the Liga Paralela.
Listed as signed within the past week by Matt Eddy in his blog, but not yet included in BA's player database - so no signing date, no birth date yet. Also, has not been added to any roster maintained by MiLB (e.g, not on either DSL roster).
Now shows on the phillies.com transactions page as signed on 10/13. Here's his player page.

Switch-hitter, throws RH, born 12/17/1999 in Cabimas, Venezuela.

Also, another July signee (not on our previous list) showed up in the DSL transactions for 10/26 - Juan Diego Herrera. Right-handed infielder, born 12/14/99 (sixteen years old) from Venezuela.

I'll post an updated list of all the July 2 (and more recent) international signings after we migrate to the new board/server (after the WS) - I've already revised the table coding for the new board, and it would be a pain to undo that...

It'll be interesting, too bad we can't gauge how good a lot of these signings are once you get out of the top 50 lists, to separate the chaff (the bodies signed to fill out summer league teams) from the wheat (guys they consider legitimate prospects). But it sure looks like they've spread their resources around and may end up spending their entire allotment by July. Given their recent track record with "unknowns" (Kilomo, Sixto, etc.) this bodes well.

gmwannabe 2016-11-04 15:59:24 UTC #26

nice size by the new righty, although not as tall as my inflated calculations. here's to another Kilome, hopefully.
gm

julio 2016-11-08 03:28:47 UTC #27

Another international signee has appeared in the DSL transactions:

11/7/16: IF Raymond Mora assigned to DSL Phillies2.

Mora is 16, was signed on August 1st (he turned 16 on July 29th). He's a Venezuelan infielder. Here's his MiLB page.

This brings us to 25 identified international signings since July 2nd.

julio 2016-11-08 04:31:58 UTC #28

Wading back through the Phils transactions, I found that MLBAM has updated the July through September transactions with additional signings they didn't list at the time. I found twelve (!) more international signings:

Player	Position	Signed	Nationality	Birth	Age
Blanco, Jeison	RHP	8/12/16	Venezuela	1/3/98	18
De La Cruz, Jonas	RHP	9/19/16	Dominican	1/1/98	18
Francisco, Julio	OF	9/9/16	Dominican	3/19/98	18
Kuznetsov, Anton	LHP	9/8/16	Russia	5/26/98	18
Made, Edgar	SS	7/8/16	Dominican	12/15/99	16
Mendez, Juan	C	7/8/16	Dominican	2/27/99	17
Mercedes, Yefferson	LHP	7/2/16[	Dominican	1/28/99	17
Parra, Anderson	LHP	7/2/16	Dominican	4/17/99	17
Pineda, Luiggi	SS	7/2/16	Venezuela	11/25/99	16
Rojas, Luis	C	7/2/16	Venezuela	4/19/00	16
Rosario, Dalvin	RHP	7/2/16	Dominican	6/15/00	16
Valerio, Christian	SS	7/2/16	? (born in Philly!)	2/27/00	16

Note: Matt Winkleman is of the opinion that the Luiggi Pineda listed above is the same person as Luigi Mujica, who was reported as signed back on 7/2, but whose signing never appeared confirmed anywhere. Matt may well be correct about this, but I haven't been able to confirm it one way or the other.

donaldorc 2016-11-08 18:43:05 UTC #29

Venezuela continues to be the country of our choice for signing international (Latino) players.

Austinfan 2016-11-08 18:49:22 UTC #30

Any idea of how close they came to spending their allotment?
Kinda confirms my suspicion that they signed the bigger names they could, didn't have the opportunity for an "Ortiz" signing, so they've been spreading money around a lot of LA players this year.

julio 2016-11-09 01:41:36 UTC #31

Phils' minor-league free agents (as of today):

Gregory Infante
Anthony Vasquez
Carlos Alonso
Gabriel Lino
Christian Marrero
Jake Fox
KC Serna

Per Matt Winkleman, Chace Numata and Miguel Nunez were eligible, but have re-signed with the Phillies.

julio 2016-11-09 01:48:00 UTC #32

Matt Winkleman shows "Total Reported Spending" as $3,660,000. Don't know how current that is.

Matt_Winkelman 2016-11-09 21:45:05 UTC #33

That number is as current as we have information on. However it only includes the reported bonuses which is Morales, Gonzalez, Torres, Aparicio, Tortolero, Muzziootti, and Mujica (or Pineda, or one of the Luiggis).

None of the other bonuses have been reported. By my count the Phillies have signed 30 other players during the international signing period, so even if they all got small bonuses (and it is likely a good chunk at least got in the $40,000 to $100,000 range) that adds up to a not insubstantial sum of money.

Austinfan 2016-11-09 22:27:57 UTC #34

If we knew what they got, it would also give us a better feel for how they see them.
In the past $5-10K was more roster fodder though they hit on a couple, $50K or so means they're serious and think they have a sleeper they don't want to lose.

Matt_Winkelman 2016-11-09 22:50:10 UTC #35

That information normally starts to trickle out at the end of the winter and then into next summer, but it may take years for it to come out or never be released if the player never becomes anything.

julio 2016-11-21 03:25:21 UTC #36

I've updated the post at the beginning of this thread with transactions through 11/18 (when the winter roster was set).

LoneStarPhan 2016-11-21 18:03:02 UTC #37

Although not a minor league transaction, somewhere in the shuffle to get the roster set, Elvis Araujo was lost on waivers.

Looks like LH pitching is in short supply. I think the Phillies need to add a solid LH reliever for the active roster in 2017.

julio 2016-11-25 19:53:31 UTC #38

Elvis has left the building!

(Couldn't resist...)

List up top is updated through 10/23 transactions (Buchanan/Cordero).

julio 2016-12-01 19:15:34 UTC #39

You never quite know what you're going to find on one of the MLB transactions pages...and since I expect this may be an error, I thought to memorialize it here!

Nolasco was signed last year on 12/14, and was on the DSL roster this past season. I really don't know what to make of this latest.

julio 2016-12-02 18:16:28 UTC #40

The Phils have announced their 2017 minor league field staff for all levels.

Summary: