550 replies to this topic

[Tucker Blair]

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=RgUwhiMA55Y

Orioles sign 18 year Guatemalan Andres Aguilar

Don Olsen tweeted this about him as well:

"Andres Aguilar is a big framed kid, looks the part of power/speed combo.
under 6 ft, about 180 pounds. speed, quick hands give some hope to project."

[BSLChrisStoner]

Baltimore Orioles sign S. Korean pitcher Yoon Jung-hyun
http://english.yonha...002600315F.HTML

[You Play to Win the Game]

Sounds like a decent prospect. 

 

Interesting, and kind of funny, that the article sort of hints at "They're banned from scouting over here, how did they know about Jung-hyun and sign him?" 

 

It's a good question, I'm not sure how that works, but I'm OK with it nevertheless. 

[Tucker Blair]

Good Read for those interested in the international market

http://english.yonha...www.twitter.com

 

 

Discussion on the Orioles latest signee, Yoon Jung-hyun

 

Also, Jee-ho Yoo is a great follow on twitter, considering the Orioles are constantly doing stuff in the Korean market recently.

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN: A look at some of the O's talent in their DR program
http://www.masnsport...an-program.html

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN: Nelson Norman talks about the O's Dominican program
http://www.masnsport...an-program.html

[Roll Tide]

Camden Chat: O's sign 18 yr old Guatemalan OF, Juan Diego Montes
http://www.camdencha...lder-juan-diego

7 year deal!

[Mike in STL]

"Duquette has changed all that, signing players you've never heard of from anywhere he can find them playing baseball."

He certainly doesn't sign players we have heard of. But I'm glad to see the Orioles moving in this direction.

[RichardZ]

Not for nothing but the Orioles signed Manny Hernandez from Guatemala while Andy MacPhail was still in charge and before Duquette got here so this quote from the article is kind of funny.

 

The Warehouse may not even have been able to find Guatemala on a map before Duquette arrived.

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN: Duquette and Ferreira on the international acquisitions (Carlos Diaz, Jomar Reyes)
http://www.masnsport...quisitions.html

[dude]

I had a couple of comments on these guys and in general, although I'm not sure anyone will see them over here.

 

So I was looking for info on BA on these guys (nothing yet) and ran across an article from last December talking about changes to the International drafting system.  At one point I read (or think I did) that only signings over 100k counted against the pool.  I know that's true for Rule 4 draft, but I thought I read it on the international side too.  The limit that doesn't count against the pool is apparently $7,500, not $100,000.  In that article they said they are getting rid of the 6 x 50k exemptions outside of the pool money and basically everything over $10k (was $7.5k) counts against the pool. ie Unlimited signings for 10k or less

 

Anyway, I had made several comments wrongly about the allocation of the IntPool and I wanted to correct that.  

Facts should be shared correctly.

 

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I've been fairly hard on the O's for their International work although I don't really care either way.  I find it annoying to say you're doing something when there's not a lot of evidence you are doing something.  I'd still contend that is largely true and DD even says in the posts on the recent signings that they 'value manage' these signing within their resources, which really means we're looking to add cheap guys and hope things pan out.

 

So I think avoiding the community project-able talent is a pretty limited approach, but that doesn't mean they are doing anything and they should get some credit for the things they are doing.

 

One of the followup articles mentioned a pitcher they signed for 325k and I don't think I had given them any credit for signings over 100k.  So there's that too.  Apparently that kid (Olenlki something) has looked pretty good early so, hey, let's put him on the Orioles International watch list.

 

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Onto current signings.  I hope these guys are great.  FF certainly deserves some benefit of the doubt given his history of signing some quality Latin ML players.

 

That said, DD and FF comments on these guys seem a little over the top.  When you start talking about 'hitting in the middle of the order'....ok....we need middle of the order hitters......but these guys would be like 4 or 5 or 7 years away from even being considered for the ML roster, let alone a significant role.

 

I'm also interested in the definition of 'significant' I guess because they are trying to pass these guys off as highly desired commodities on the international scene.  If 'significant' is 150k, then there really wasn't a lot of other interest.  If it's 660k or 800k, then teams are making some decisions and it's interesting that the Orioles were willing to go there.  

 

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It would be interesting to get the organization's (FF) International Top 10 watch list to track some guys and grade the Orioles success on this market.

 

I believe there were 2 OFs (Andres Aguilar, Jesus Martinez), the pitcher whose name escapes me (325k) and these 2 guys that the organization has touted at some level.  Not sure if they'd rank some other guys around, above (whatever) these guys.

[dude]

1B from Mexico-Omar Diaz 17 year old
6'2" 200 lbs

3B from the Dominican Republic- Carlos Reyes 16 6'4" third baseman.


http://www.masnsport...l-signings.html


International pool money around 500k

 

Out of curiosity, where did the 500k come from?  I didn't see it in the article (or other MASN entries) or anywhere on BA.

 

So here's the other thing that's funny.

 

I thought FF's comparison of Reyes to Clete Boyer was an interesting comp.  I honestly never watched Boyer (retired in 1971) as he was a little before my active pro-baseball memory (about 1978).  

 

So FF makes the Boyer comp and DD says he can hit in the middle of the order......but when you go look up Boyer's numbers he was all defense (if you believe in dWAR) with a career OPS under .700......so Badler isn't confident about his position....but FF thinks he can be a GG quality 3B and he doesn't think he'll be a great hitter, but DD thinks he's a MOTO guy. 

 

Seems like an odd dispersion of perspectives on the same guy from 2 guys (in theory) sharing the same organizational vision.

 

I hope he's Beltre on defense and MCab with the bat.  It'll probably only take 6 years to figure it out.

[Mike B]

Out of curiosity, where did the 500k come from?  I didn't see it in the article (or other MASN entries) or anywhere on BA.

 

So here's the other thing that's funny.

 

I thought FF's comparison of Reyes to Clete Boyer was an interesting comp.  I honestly never watched Boyer (retired in 1971) as he was a little before my active pro-baseball memory (about 1978).  

 

So FF makes the Boyer comp and DD says he can hit in the middle of the order......but when you go look up Boyer's numbers he was all defense (if you believe in dWAR) with a career OPS under .700......so Badler isn't confident about his position....but FF thinks he can be a GG quality 3B and he doesn't think he'll be a great hitter, but DD thinks he's a MOTO guy. 

 

Seems like an odd dispersion of perspectives on the same guy from 2 guys (in theory) sharing the same organizational vision.

 

I hope he's Beltre on defense and MCab with the bat.  It'll probably only take 6 years to figure it out.

 

I may  be wrong but I think what FF was referencing was how Reyes moved around the bag.  I remember Boyer a little, and I always thought he was a good fielder, who at times was a pesky hitter.  Too lazy to look it up but somewhere around a .250 hitter with a little HR pop.

[Mike B]

First let me say, I think it is good the Orioles are at least active on the international arena.  I think one of the best things DD has done is to get the "Shark"  FF back to work.  He is a legend in the Carribean.  It is a shame we did not get him a younger scout to shadow him and learn the area and the contacts.  If Ferreira likes these guys then that is good enough for me.

All that said, I wonder if some of this is not PR from the Orioles.  These are two teenage kids that we are happy to have but it will more than likely be 5 years before either is ready for the majors.  Get some publicity, and get the fans off the backs of the FO for this off seasons dismal performance. 

[dude]

Catching up on a BA article on these guys.....it looks like Jomar Reyes signed for 350k.

 

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In a related article (LINK), for the calendar year 2013 the Orioles had the lowest International spending (1.23M) of any team in baseball.  The 29th team spent 600k more.  The top teams (Cubs/Rangers) spent over 8M.

 

The contract for Dariel Alvarez (and other > 23 yr old guys) isn't included, but that doesn't even get their spending to 2M.

 

Low spending totals doesn't necessarily mean they aren't getting talent, but they certainly aren't leveraging money to get that talent.....and when we look at organizational spending profiles.....every other team is spending more than the Orioles.

[BSLChrisStoner]

The international spending needs to jump significantly this year. That would be true even if the Os hadn't lost their first two picks in the Amateur draft.

[Coker]

The 2014-15 international bonus pools were released today. The O's have 2.25M* to spend this year, up from 1.96M last year. As a refresher, teams can trade for up to an additional 50% in cap space. Meaning the O's can add upwards of 1M to their international bonus pool if they so desire by trading for international bonus slots.

Let's see what DD does this year. You'd think international spending is the way to go without a 1st or 2nd rd pick in the draft. 


*Really it's $2,253,100 to spend

[dude]

The 2014-15 international bonus pools were released today. The O's have 2.25M* to spend this year, up from 1.96M last year. As a refresher, teams can trade for up to an additional 50% in cap space. Meaning the O's can add upwards of 1M to their international bonus pool if they so desire by trading for international bonus slots.

Let's see what DD does this year. You'd think international spending is the way to go without a 1st or 2nd rd pick in the draft. 


*Really it's $2,253,100 to spend

 

Agree and it's almost important to note that 2 of the biggest international spenders, the Cubs and Rangers, are on double secret probation this year and can't spend more than 250k on an individual signing.

 

What that also means is that both the Cubs and Rangers should have slot money they'd be willing to deal.

 

Cubs 1st (458k) and 2nd (309.3k)  and the Rangers 1st (366.6k) is 1,134k or just over 50% of the Orioles Pool amount.

 

Rangers lost Profar for 3 months.....Weeks might be a good short term, cheap alternative for their 1st rd Pool slot.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Sure hope the International spending increases this year, to help off-set the lack of high end draft picks.

Per Baseball America- the Rays, Yankees, and Boston - are 3 of the 4 known teams that plan to exceed their International Spending Cap.

The Process Report: Badler: Rays to Exceed Spending Cap

http://theprocessrep...d-spending-cap/

[BSLChrisStoner]

As Jeremy alluded to, today marks the start of the International signing period.

 

Here is a look at how the Yankees might operate:

It's About The Money: IFA Primer: Spend, Spend, Spend!
http://itsaboutthemo...asyleaguegm.com