Official July 2nd IFA Market thread

[-MetA4-]

Blue Jays 2013 IFA Bonus Pool: $2,817,100

Today marks the start of this year's 16-year old IFA market. Going into today, the Jays were linked to SS Yeltsin Gudino (#8 on BA Top 30) and OF Freddy Rodriguez (#18 on BA Top 30). Both players are from Venezuela, and both come from Carlos Guillen's baseball camp.

While there hasn't been any confirmation from North American sources yet; I found tweets from earlier today made by a Venezuelan baseball twitter account which seems to suggest that we did indeed get both players this morning:

"Toronto, a la calladita, siempre presente a la hora de las firmas. SS Yeltsin Gudiño, de la Academia de Carlos Guillen es un azulejo." ..... "Toronto, to anything, always present at the time of the signature. SS Yeltsin Gudiño, the Academy's Carlos Guillen is a Blue Jay."

"En la firma de Gudiño, apareció también OF Freddy Rodríguez, ambos de la Academia Carlos Guillén, firmando hoy con Toronto" ..... "The signing of Gudino, also appeared OF Freddy Rodríguez, both of the Academy Carlos Guillén, signing today with Toronto"

[Schad]

Boris should be able to stick at short, from what I've read, which is nice.

[-MetA4-]

Boris should be able to stick at short, from what I've read, which is nice.

Yes, he is noted as a smooth defender with a good glove who could really profile with plus defense in the future if he can add more strength as he grows.

[-MetA4-]

Some scouting reports on SS Yeltsin Gudino and OF Freddy Rodriguez...


SS Yeltsin Gudino, 6'0" 152lbs, R/R, Venezuela (#6 Scout, #8 BA, #11 MLB.com)
Age: 16.5 years

"Yeltsin Gudino, ss, Venezuela (video): When scouts grade out Gudino’s tools, there isn’t a 60 on his scouting report, but he’s a well-rounded player with success on the international circuit and strong baseball instincts. Gudino, who trains with Carlos Guillen, excelled at the 15U World Championship last August in Mexico and has continued to show an advanced hitting approach for his age. Gudino’s game will benefit from additional strength, which is a positive because there’s room to project more power and perhaps arm strength from his 6-foot, 150-pound body. He’s an average runner and a good fielder who projects to stay at shortstop. Oakland and Texas were tied to Gudino at one point, but now it looks like the Blue Jays are the leaders to sign him."

"A smart player with good instincts, Gudino shows the kind of feel for the game that belies his age. "He knows how to play," remarked one scout, who also noted Gudino's strong fundamentals and leadership qualities. Gudino's intangibles are off the charts, and his sound positioning and plus arm-strength help make up for his lack of pure footspeed (6.96). Already a pretty slick defensive shortstop who will make all the routine plays, if he can improve his overall range, his defense would project to plus. Gudino has a muscular athletic build. He hits from an open stance and employs a toe-tap trigger. His setup begins with an open stance, hands high and close to the body, and there is a slight bat wrap in his swing. Mostly a linedrive hitter, Gudino has very good bat speed, and shows some power to the pull side. Gudino has a wealth of experience having played for Venezuela internationally, leading the 15-and-Under team to the 2012 World Championship of Baseball. Gudino finished that tournament with an impressive line of .455/.611/.833 to go with 10rbi 1(2b) 4(3b) 10bb 3so 5sb 1cs in 8 games. Rumors have Seattle and Oakland interested in signing him. He's expected to receive a bonus in the 1mm range."

OF Freddy Rodriguez, 6'1" 180lbs, L/R, Venezuela (#18 BA, #29 Scout)
Age: 16.7 years

"Rodriguez is one of several players from Carlos Guillen’s academy who stand out for their baseball instincts and ability to perform in games, including Yeltsin Gudino, Carlos Talavera and Nestor Tejada. Rodriguez earns praise for his hitting, with a solid approach and a compact swing with good bat path from the left side, though some scouts think he misses too many hittable fastballs. He’s a gap hitter with the size to project more sock in the future. He has advanced baseball skills and solid tools. Rodriguez has run above-average times in the 60-yard dash, so he has the present speed to play center field and a chance to stay there. His weakest tool is his arm. He doesn’t throw well and pushes the ball with a strange arm stroke. If he slows down, he would have to move to left field, which would place a greater demand on his bat. Rodriguez has been tied to the Red Sox and then the Rockies, but now some sources believe the Blue Jays might be the team that signs him."

"Lefty batter who can really hit. Not an overly toolsy athlete, he has average speed (6.9) and arm strength, but his throws are accurate and on line and he plays a solid left field. Makes a lot of contact and can really square up a baseball. Might hit for average power down the line. The Red Sox are rumored to be very interested in this polished hitter."

[Schad]

Boris should be able to stick at short, from what I've read, which is nice.

Yes, he is noted as a smooth defender with a good glove who could really profile with plus defense in the future if he can add more strength as he grows.

Pros: could be a complete shortstop in the future.

Cons: perhaps likes pizza a bit too much.

[-MetA4-]

The Rangers have spent ~$4.45 million. Their allotted bonus pool was ~$1.9 million. While they received bonus allotment in a trade with the Marlins supposedly, they are still way over and will incur penalties for next year's signing period.

[dagger]

Brendan Kennedy ‏@BKennedyStar 1m
#bluejays announce signing of 14 int'l FAs, incl SS Yeltsin Gudino, CF Freddy Rodriguez of VZ & SS Jesus Ramirez, SS Miguel Almonte of DR.

[-MetA4-]

Gudino received "about $1.2 million" according to Shi Davidi.

[Ong_dynasty]

We normally get top prospects in IFA since AA has been around. do you guys know why we havent this time? Save money? not a good crop?

Do you guys know who the top prospects are.?

[Kaizen]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/internat ... ve-signed/

We have signed two of the top 18. That is still good.

[Schad]

We normally get top prospects in IFA since AA has been around. do you guys know why we havent this time? Save money? not a good crop?

Do you guys know who the top prospects are.?

We are getting fairly significant names, but more than that in classes like this (Badler has stated that there are good players, but none head-and-shoulders above the rest in his estimation) it comes down to the price tag and the opinion of your scouts. The (stupid) bonus caps mean that you're working within a set framework...we cannot go out and spend $8-9m and snap up every IFA that catches our eye anymore.

And because these kids are 16, there's plenty of room for scouts to differ. Take Gudino; he's ranked #8 because he doesn't have the five-tool upside of some kids. But if he adds strength and develops defensively as you'd expect, you suddenly have a plus-defense shortstop who'll maintain a high average and OBP and display above-average power for his position, which is what causes scouts to wake up in the middle of the night with sticky sheets. If the Jays scouts see that as a more likely proposition than others, they may have him rated at or near the top of his class, or at least believe that his bonus vs. talent is a better bet than some of the others.

On the subject of uberprospects, Michael Ynoa -- signed in 2008, considered to be one of the best IFAs in the past couple decades -- may finally be figuring things out. Now 21, and perhaps healthy for the first time since he was signed, he got promoted to A+ yesterday.

[-MetA4-]

So bonus amounts have trickled through...

SS Yeltsin Gudino - $1,290,000 (Kiley McDaniel/Jesse sanchez)
OF Freddy Rodriguez - $500,000 (Kiley McDaniel)
SS Miguel Almonte - $400,000 (Dionisio Soldevila)
SS Jesus Ramirez - $400,000 (Dionisio Soldevila)

Everyone else signed were overage/minor signings.

I haven't found any info on Almonte or Ramirez...but those are significant bonuses and suggest that they need to be tracked as well.

[Graham's Cracker]

So bonus amounts have trickled through...

SS Yeltsin Gudino - $1,290,000 (Kiley McDaniel/Jesse sanchez)
OF Freddy Rodriguez - $500,000 (Kiley McDaniel)
SS Miguel Almonte - $400,000 (Dionisio Soldevila)
SS Jesus Ramirez - $400,000 (Dionisio Soldevila)

Everyone else signed were overage/minor signings.

I haven't found any info on Almonte or Ramirez...but those are significant bonuses and suggest that they need to be tracked as well.

So these signings pretty much take us up to our limit then?

[-MetA4-]

Metabrahhh on the case


Dionisio Soldevila ‏@dSoldevila 30m
Almonte is a 5'11 SS... Very intelligent kid... Good glove, contact hitter. A bargain for what the Jays paid, both SS

Dionisio Soldevila ‏@dSoldevila 33m
Ramirez is a 6'2 SS, good arm, slick defense. Line drive hitter. Could become a power hitter once he gains weight

[SharoneWright]

Thanks Met!