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BenBadler

Looking more and more like the Blue Jays and Mariners will be the biggest international spenders in the July 2 market

youngLion wrote:This system is an abomination. The league needs to adopt a worldwide draft.

BenBadler

Action is very slow in the Dominican Republic. Expect signings out of VZ tomorrow, but the DR will be much slower to develop

BenBadler

I think they both will, but we'll see RT @Norberto0714 Do you expect Adonis Cardona to sign tomorrow? or maybe Phillips Castillo?

Toronto Blue Jays: In most years, the Yankees are the big dogs on the international market. This year, teams are waiting to see what the Blue Jays will do, and wondering just how much money they will spend in Latin America. The Blue Jays have been connected to a startling number of top prospects, with general manager Alex Anthopoulos reportedly in the Dominican Republic as the signing period begins.

The Blue Jays have been connected to Venezuelan righthander Adonis Cardona for $2.8 million and Venezuelan third baseman Gabriel Cenas for around $700,000. They are also believed to be one of the teams in strongest pursuit (along with the Pirates) of Mexican righthander Luis Heredia, who is expected to command a bonus of around $3 million. One twist is that Heredia can't sign until he turns 16 on Aug. 16.

The Blue Jays have also been connected to Venezuelan lefty Angel Mejias and have shown interest in Venezuelan shortstop Rougned Odor. International sources say Toronto is in on other top Latin American players as well. Scouts wonder how the Blue Jays could possibly sign all these top players, even with a top-of-the-market budget, but all indications are that the Jays are ready to spend heavily to beef up their farm system.

-MetA4- wrote:BA today:

The Blue Jays have been connected to Venezuelan righthander Adonis Cardona for $2.8 million and Venezuelan third baseman Gabriel Cenas for around $700,000. They are also believed to be one of the teams in strongest pursuit (along with the Pirates) of Mexican righthander Luis Heredia, who is expected to command a bonus of around $3 million. One twist is that Heredia can't sign until he turns 16 on Aug. 16.

The players below are ranked based on their projected signing bonuses, not necessarily their future talent levels. While those two should theoretically align, teams often have extremely different views and place wildly different values on 15- and 16-year-old players scouted in Latin America. That distinction is important enough to repeat: The rankings are based not on talent, but on a forecast of the market. They are not Baseball America's rankings of the top 33 players in Latin America. Think of them more along the lines of our mock draft than our predraft Top 200 rankings.

The players at the top of the class have established their position fairly well. After the top dozen or so players, there could be significant variance in how much players sign for. There will undoubtedly be other less-known players who pop up and sign for top dollars as well. With reports of possibly half of the 40 Dominican players who had to register with Major League Baseball having failed their drug tests and MLB having still not completed its age and identity investigations, a player ranked below could suddenly see his value plummet if something comes up during his background check. These rankings are our best forecast of the market, based on conversations with scouts throughout the industry.

Baseball America subscribers have full access to scouting reports on all 33 prospects and to our projections for all 30 teams.

1. Esteilon Peguero, SS, Dominican Republic (video)
2. Luis Heredia, RHP, Mexico
3. Adonis Cardona, RHP, Venezuela
4. Renato Nunez, 3B, Venezuela (video)
5. Eskarlin Vazquez, RF, Dominican Republic
6. Phillips Castillo, OF, Dominican Republic
7. Vicmal de la Cruz, CF, Dominican Republic (video)
8. Rougned Odor, SS, Venezuela (video)
9. Wilmer Romero, CF, Dominican Republic (video)
10. Ariel Ovando, OF, Dominican Republic (video)
11. Humberto Arteaga, SS, Venezuela
12. Jose Torres, RHP, Colombia
13. Yorman Garcia, CF, Venezuela
14. Gabriel Cenas, 3B, Venezuela
15. Elvis Sanchez, 3B, Dominican Republic
16. Angel Mejias, LHP, Venezuela
17. Yoel Araujo, CF, Dominican Republic (video)
18. Jordi Calderon, 3B, Venezuela
19. Edwin Moreno, OF, Dominican Republic (video)
20. Argy Raga, C, Venezuela
21. Alberto Triunfel, SS, Dominican Republic
22. Jose Tovar, LHP, Venezuela
23. Pedro Perez, 3B, Colombia
24. Yorman Landa, RHP, Venezuela
25. Vicente Lupo, OF, Venezuela
26. Antonio Gonzalez, SS, Dominican Republic
27. Geronimo Franzua, LHP, Dominican Republic (video)
28. Ronny Mejias, SS, Venezuela
29. Christopher Tamarez, SS, Dominican Republic
30. Luis Abad, RHP, Dominican Republic
31. Felix Jorge, RHP, Dominican Republic
32. Javier Pimentel, SS, Dominican Republic
33. Anderson Gonzalez, SS, Venezuela

2. LUIS HEREDIA, RHP
MEXICO
B-T: R-R Ht.: 6-5 Wt.: 180
Heredia is the top pitcher on some teams' boards, though he is in a bit of an usual situation. Heredia, who is from Mazatlan, has already signed his rights away to Veracruz of the Mexican League, which means that teams wishing to sign Heredia will be negotiating directly with Veracruz, which would then transfer Heredia's rights to a major league club. Under this type of transfer, the Mexican League team typically keeps 75 percent of the bonus while the player receives the other 25 percent. Heredia, whose father Hector reached Triple-A with the Dodgers in the late 1980s and was a longtime Mexican League pitcher, has been on the radar for some teams for the last three years, though he won't be able to sign until he turns 16 on Aug. 16. For a 15-year-old, Heredia has an excellent fastball that sits at 88-91 mph with good life and has touched 92. With his youth, loose arm and wiry 6-foot-5 frame, Heredia should be able to hit the mid-90s has he fills out, and he already has shown good control of his fastball. Scouts are mixed on Heredia's secondary pitches. His low-70s curveball shows good rotation at times, though it still needs work, and he has flashed a changeup. Some scouts have also seen him throw a slider, though at his age he hasn't thrown too many breaking balls. The Blue Jays and Pirates appear to be making the strongest charge for Heredia, whose bonus could end up somewhere around $2.8 million, possibly higher.

3. ADONIS CARDONA, RHP
VENEZUELA
B-T: R-R Ht.: 6-4 Wt.: 180
The top pitcher in Venezuela is Cardona, a powerful righthander with a projectable body and an excellent fastball. Cardona, 16, has a quick arm that delivers fastballs at 88-91 mph, touching 93. He should have at least a plus fastball when he's done filling out and should be able to hit the mid-90s down the road. He also shows some feel for a changeup. Cardona's curveball shows good depth at times, though several scouts have expressed concerns about it and have called it a present below-average pitch. Cardona is still refining his feel for pitching, and his mechanics also give some scouts reservations. Cardona has strong ties to the Blue Jays, who are expected to sign him on Friday for around $2.8 million, which would break Padres righthander Adys Portillo's $2 million record for a Venezuelan pitcher set two years ago.

8. ROUGNED ODOR, SS
VENEZUELA
B-T: L-R Ht.: 5-10 Wt.: 155
Odor (pronounced "Oh-Door"), the 16-year-old nephew of Indians high Class A Kinston hitting coach Rouglas Odor, trains with Miguel Nava and has played on Venezuelan youth national teams for years, most recently starring at the World Youth Championship in Taiwan last August. It's hard to find a better pure swing anywhere in Venezuela. It's short, quick and compact. Unlike many Latin American prospects who stand out more in batting practice and showcase environments, Odor separates himself in game situations with his instincts, savvy and approach at the plate. Odor has good plate discipline for his age and shows a willingness to work the count. While Odor's size is a concern for some scouts, others have said he's shown surprising pop for his size and could hit 15-20 home runs per year if he adds strength to his thin frame. Odor doesn't have flashy tools, as he's an average runner with an arm that grades out around average, though it can be wild at times. Odor does have good hands, but many scouts believe he will ultimately end up at second base. Odor might not sign immediately on July 2, but he has drawn strong interest from the Yankees and Blue Jays, while some believe the Reds or the Rangers could also get involved.

14. GABRIEL CENAS, 3B
VENEZUELA
B-T: R-R Ht.: 6-1 Wt.: 175
Ceñas, a 16-year-old from Maracaibo, trains with Carlos Rios, who had previously served as the Yankees international scouting director. Ceñas' calling card is his bat, as he shows good feel for putting the barrel to the baseball, though he's still growing into his power. He is a fringe-average runner with a plus arm who has been linked to the Blue Jays for a bonus of around $700,000.

16. ANGEL MEJIAS, LHP
VENEZUELA
B-T: L-L Ht.: 6-3 Wt.: 190
Mejias, who trains with Ciro Barrios, played with Nunez and Odor at the World Youth Championship in Taiwan in August. Mejias made the start in both of Venezuela's games against Cuba, with mixed results. He throws his fastball in the high 80s. With his youth and arm speed he could have a plus fastball down the road, though his secondary pitches get mixed reviews. The Reds and Blue Jays are among the teams to have shown interest in Mejias, whom some scouts have said they've had trouble getting a chance to see recently.

Schadenfreude wrote:

youngLion wrote:This system is an abomination. The league needs to adopt a worldwide draft.

I used to feel the same way, until reading a few articles concerning prospect development in the Dominican. As it stands, teams pour quite a bit of money into their Dominican facilities because it gives them a leg up in signing kids, and that cash helps to keep the talent pipeline open. If they switch to a draft, there'll be less necessity to finance skills development at the lowest level, and thus less talent available.

And while the bonuses might seem hefty, they really aren't in the grand scheme; in an average year you'll get 2-3 players signing for the equivalent of #7-12 overall slot money, a few more signing for first-round money, and a bunch signing for what amounts to late-sandwich/early-2nd round cash. It's not much more unfair than seeing players slide on bonus demands in the draft, but as the demands are often even lower, the talent pool is available to everyone...a few teams often dominate it, but that's only because some teams are too stupid to understand that the relative pittance of an investment is worth it.

youngLion wrote:
You make an interesting point about development, but I still think they need to incorporate every country into the draft. Teams understand that they're a lot of talent in Latin America, but they don't all have the same resources to go after it.

As long as the system favours the richer teams it's a joke. It looks like the Jays are going to take advantage of it this time around, but even so I still think it needs to be changed.

The Pirates and Toronto are the two primary teams after elite Mexican pitching prospect Luis Heredia, and the bidding could become highly competitive based on early indications: One international source outside the Pirates but intimately familiar with Latin American negotiations said Wednesday that the Pirates already have bid $2.5 million, the Blue Jays $2.8 million.

Hoopstarr wrote:Roughened Odor will never get old. Literally.

CZAR85 wrote:Any updates? Blue Jays related or otherwise.

keithlaw

Per @iGranadillo, the Blue Jays and Venezuelan RHP Adonis Cardona have made it official. He'll receive $2.8MM.