O's taking the full plunge into International Signings

[RZNJ]

I am a bit surprised this wasn't posted already but maybe I missed it.    Melewski seems to have the inside info on the O's signings in this years J2 period.

Back in the summer, Baseball America reported on several agreements the Orioles have with international amateurs. They included two well regarded prospects in Venezuelan shortstop Maikol Hernandez. The 16-year-old Hernandez is 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds and has several impressive tools including a strong arm and power. He’s drawn some comparisons to bigger shortstops at young ages, such as Carlos Correa and Manny Machado. The O’s have an agreement also with top catching prospect Samuel Basallo from the Dominican Republic. Basallo, who turned 16 on Aug. 13, has some left-handed raw power and an arm that gets 60 grades from some scouts. But he is a big catcher already at 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds and could outgrow the catching position.

Per Baseball America, Basallo, once linked to the Yankees, could get a bonus of between $1 million and $1.5 million. There is a strong possibility that Hernandez commands a seven-figure bonus as well. It wasn’t long ago that the O’s were not very involved at all on the international amateur front, and now they could be looking at two players signed for $1 million or more come January. That class also includes an outfielder in Wilmer Feliciano, who could get nearly $500,000.

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by RZNJ

[Frobby]

I did see this, but both these expected signings were reported before.  

 

 

[Sports Guy]

Yea, we had seen these before.  Very exciting to see it, that’s for sure.

[RZNJ]

Oh well.  Never mind.

[Frobby]

19 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Oh well.  Never mind.

I’m sure some people never saw the earlier reports.    It is exciting that we are expecting to get two prospects who are that high-end.   I’ll be happy once January arrives and they’re actually signed, instead of just reading that it’s expected.   

[Philip]

When guys like that are signed, are they too young to go into the top 30 list?

[Sports Guy]

15 minutes ago, Philip said:

When guys like that are signed, are they too young to go into the top 30 list?

To me, the question is how high do you put them?

 

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

To me, the question is how high do you put them?

 

If you put Mayo and Baumler in the top 20 I don't see why these two wouldn't be right there with them.

[Sports Guy]

18 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

If you put Mayo and Baumler in the top 20 I don't see why these two wouldn't be right there with them.

Exactly.  

[OFFNY]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

 

O's Taking the Full Plunge into International Signings

 

o

 

 

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[Sports Guy]

It will be so nice in the next year or 2 to see some of the Intl FAs rated highly on our lists.  Will be a welcome change.

[olddogger]

Maikol Hernandez write up at mlb.com

 

"At 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds, the lean and athletic Hernandez reminds some scouts of a young Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Correa because of his body type. Like Rodriguez and Correa, the teenager has a chance to have plus tools in the future if he continues to develop at a normal pace. ...."

 

Edited November 29, 2020 by olddogger
spelling

[Moose Milligan]

Are we spending all the money we can here?  I feel that's the most important thing.  

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

If you put Mayo and Baumler in the top 20 I don't see why these two wouldn't be right there with them.

Sure. We already see a 17 yo pitcher who signed for something like 400k ranked #29 without pitching 1 professional inning yet. 

[foxfield]

13 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Are we spending all the money we can here?  I feel that's the most important thing.  

I think this should be in a green font for some reason...