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Sign VS Draft

Star-divide

          Over on ESPN there is an article discussing the upcoming Latin youth signing date.  Starting July 2nd MLB teams can sign any Latin America youth to a contract as long as that player will be 16 years old after September 6th.  There are profiles for the top 14 players, as well as some speculation.

           The top player is Michael Inoa, a 6'7", 210lb RHP out of the Domincan Republic.  Basically everyone is after the kid...

PROFILE:

NO. PLAYER POS AGE (BIRTHDATE) COUNTRY
1 Michael Inoa RHP 16 (Sept. 24, 1991) Dominican Republic

Comment: His father was an outstanding amateur ballplayer (Simon Inoa) and his mother a stellar softball hurler (Juana Ventura), so it is only fitting to find him throwing strikes so comfortably and consistently. Inoa could get a bonus in the range of $3 million to $4 million. The Oakland A's loom as the front-runner.

            The article goes on to say he's most likely to be signed for $3-$4 million... and he is most likely going to sign with.... the A's. Which I was more suprised about than anything, since thats a nice amount of money.

           I always thought we did really well in Latin America... I guess what I'm wondering is if we don't sign a couple of our picks like we think... And more importantly, since there is no draft order or anything else for the Latin players, would you rather drop $1-4 million on players in Latin America, or our American draftees in the same range?

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Yep

You emphasize both, and you spend more on the one that you think helps you the most at the time.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 13, 2008 4:11 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

for inoa id part with any of our picks outside of smoak.

16 yr old 6’7’’ pitcher with 3 plus pitches… sign me up. it did occur to me that armstrong + harold = prob whaht it would take to sign inoa and id rather do that.

"There is no reason for me to move to third base," Young said.
-FOTF 5/20/2008

"Well, we are one of the cheapest teams in Major League Baseball"
-Tom Hicks 4/8/2008

by Jayslick on Jun 13, 2008 11:42 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Well

He’ll cost about what Smoak does and would go at least top ten if he were in the draft probably. So if you’re comparing him with our draftees, Smoak is really the only one worth debating in terms of Inoa.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 13, 2008 4:12 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

to me, if you can essentially buy a top10 pick you’ve got to do everything possible to do it. i’d like the rangers to try and outdo the a’s here

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

by rentz on Jun 14, 2008 6:31 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Agree

I have no idea where they’re in on any of these guys, but there are also a couple of other very highly regarded guys this year, so there are a few chances to get in on it. I guess we’ll have more of an idea in a few weeks.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 14, 2008 5:20 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Worldwide draft

I think in a few years we’re going to see either latin kids put into a draft situation – either mixed into the US draft or into a separate world draft. I was listening to a Padres staff guy on the radio who said something about how the Padres are preparing for that situation by developing their ground game in countries like China.

The current situation is probably the last vestige of competitive imbalance in the game. I guess the reason they keep it this way is that it encourages teams to build baseball clinics in these countries. I’d argue that the teams will maintain their presence in places like the Dominican etc, as it will allow them closer access to certain players. Obviously the great ones will be drafted, but the teams will be familiar with guys from their organizations who have more raw talent

My preference would be to have a 2nd draft for Latin American and world players. This one players would have to declare for. You can then give owners a real barganing chip over the first round US talent by allowing teams who don’t sign their first round pick in the American draft to get a preferential slot in the World draft.

by JBImaknee on Jun 13, 2008 11:43 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Just FYI - 2007 Rangers signees

Since I just looked this up anyway about an hour ago …

Texas Rangers
Dominican Republic: SS Wilson Suero, 16; 2B Wilson Ventura, 16
Venezuela: OF Edward Ceballo, 16; SS Edwin Garcia, 16; LHP Martin Perez, 16; SS Tomas Telis, 16

Ventura, Ceballo, Telis and Garcia have appeared in the DSL this summer.
Perez might be headed to Spokane – at least to the AZRL. Suero – no idea.

by shroomer on Jun 13, 2008 11:44 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

any reports on those guys??

To be fair... You are a fan of School of Rock so your ability to judge anything is VASTLY overrated!!!!
~King Billy Royal, Minor League Ball

by ivysafety39 on Jun 13, 2008 11:48 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

IIRC

Ceballo – just had 1 AB in the first game – maybe he then jetted to sunny AZ for the rookie league – who knows

Garcia – meh start
Ventura – 1/21 start – ouch
Telis – Manny Pina-esque start – middling BA but hardly any K’s

by shroomer on Jun 13, 2008 1:19 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Perez

I still can’t believe he is listed on the Spokane roster.

by jparks77 on Jun 13, 2008 12:04 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

-1

He was the crown jewel of the latin signings last year. I know he’s 16-17, but when he has the repetoire that he’s advertised to have, you have to trust the rangers brass.

baseBALLIN!

by kevzta on Jun 13, 2008 1:40 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm aware of who he is

He just turned 17 in April and despite his repertoire, I think starting him in Spokane is aggressive.

by jparks77 on Jun 13, 2008 2:01 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

but thats how we have been with our top guys recently

Kiker two years ago, Main last year, Beavan this year skipping Spokane and going straight from AZL to Clinton.

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Jun 13, 2008 2:08 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

there are a few LA guys who went that way too right?

i did get a little surprised when i heard it at first, i know that there are guys they have pegged for aggressive approaches but as i recall last season the FA LA kids other than the top 3 were not as good or not thought of as highly, so i assumed that perez was lumped into the lesser LA guys even if he was the best LHP in there. FWIW i read that the LHP whose considered the best this year will make 875,000+ and last season i think we signed perez who was considered the top LHP for 530,000 or around there.

i look forward to checking him out, but heck, i read DSL scores and keep an eye on those fellas, (WE HAVE 2 Team! now! Count’m two!) Im sorry, inner DSL dork coming out. now i wanna VSL team damn it! just kidding. there is a lot of young kids playing baseball in the rangers system and the extra teams are that much better.

"There is no reason for me to move to third base," Young said.
-FOTF 5/20/2008

"Well, we are one of the cheapest teams in Major League Baseball"
-Tom Hicks 4/8/2008

by Jayslick on Jun 13, 2008 2:20 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Kiker is the best example

since he skipped AZL completely, but he was still 18 months older than Perez. This is easily the most aggressive thing they’ve done with a young pitcher. I guess that’s what makes it exciting.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 13, 2008 4:28 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

I got some aggressive for you

Ben Henry has been added to Clinton and will start tomorrow night in Game 2 of the Day/Night double-header.

Could just be a temporary filler because of the back-to-back double-headers today and tomorrow. We’ll see.

by shroomer on Jun 13, 2008 2:14 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

wow

gotta think its the day/night double header but its worth checking out how he does.

"There is no reason for me to move to third base," Young said.
-FOTF 5/20/2008

"Well, we are one of the cheapest teams in Major League Baseball"
-Tom Hicks 4/8/2008

by Jayslick on Jun 13, 2008 2:21 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

See, that’s much less surprising to me than Perez in Spokane. He spent last summer in AZL (and did well, except for an almost 6 BB/9IP rate) and might not be far behind some of the guys doing well in Clinton in a lot of ways, plus he’s 19, almost exactly two years older than Perez.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 13, 2008 4:16 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yeah definitely would make some sense, take some of the pressure and exposure away

by Brett Perryman on Jun 14, 2008 5:17 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

You can be shocked by the assignment and still basically trust their decision.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 13, 2008 4:18 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Doesn't it

seem a little weird that we haven’t heard one word on Suero? No DSL, not on any roster that we’ve seen. Maybe he’ll suddenly appear on AZL this summer.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 13, 2008 4:21 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

He was the other huge bonus guy, right?

Just below Perez?

A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab?

by thedirkatron on Jun 13, 2008 5:23 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

I don't know which pitching staff excites me more: Clinton or Spokane

Clinton
Feliz
Beavan
Holland
Castillo
KG
Quintero

Spokane
Main
Ramirez
Perez
Pimental
Boscan
Nevarez
Ocampo
Has anyone seen or heard anything about Ben Henry’s arsenal?

by rooster on Jun 13, 2008 6:19 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Main

Hopefully he won’t be in Spokane very long and can get to Clinton where he belongs. I don’t want him falling too far behind Beavan because the thought of the two of them promoting together over the next 3 years has me giddy.

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Jun 13, 2008 6:21 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Agreed.

But, hopefully long enough for me to see him in action sometime around July 4th.

by rooster on Jun 13, 2008 6:32 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

My only recollections were

1. that he has a good FB
2. that there was some reason to pay more attention to him, that he was regarded as better than where he was drafted

The latter may have come from Jamey around draft time, I don’t recall for sure. I bet that Jason or shroomer or one of these guys knows of more concrete information.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 13, 2008 6:29 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

I found a couple of notes.

He played in a South Carolina AA high school, where he was the ace and led the team to the state finals. His senior year he pitched 70 innings with 128 K. He tops out at 90 with his fastball and has a sharp breaking ball, according to this one newspaper report.

Jonathan Mayo is very impressed by his makeup, as he turned down an appointment to the Naval Academy to go pro.

by rooster on Jun 13, 2008 11:17 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

wow

big boy,

i was looking through the DSL academy roster,
http://missouristate.scout.com/a.z?s=463&p=8&c=2&yr=2008&csid=null&nid=3607190

any1 know anything about these pitchers?

Ezequiel Rijo RHP 6-4 190 09/12/1990
Ender Rosendo RHP 6-4 195 09/15/1989
Jhoan Quintero RHP 6-4 200 12/11/1989
Juan Grullon LHP 6-2 180 03/04/1990

anyway, there are a bunch of kids in the DSL playing and just there at the academy. We need to see if we can get Mr. Santos over there to check it out and give us the low down.

"There is no reason for me to move to third base," Young said.
-FOTF 5/20/2008

"Well, we are one of the cheapest teams in Major League Baseball"
-Tom Hicks 4/8/2008

by Jayslick on Jun 13, 2008 11:48 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

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