jcarm

Xavier Moore and Ignacio Feliz were released by the Orioles earlier this year.

I think that Beavers and Fabian have the upside to eventually rank very highly. I would not be surprised to see either of them on top 100 lists next year.

The problem with that is he would accrue MLB service time while on the 60 day MLB DL.

There is absolutely no way anyone takes Reyes in the Major League rule 5 draft. It is more likely that the Orioles don't protect him on their minor league roster and someone takes him as a pitcher in the minor league phase (I don't think this will happen).

Why does it matter if he has options to you? If the Orioles want to send him to the minors, they just DFA him. If he clears waivers, they send him down. If not he goes to another team. He has not been that great a player so far and probably will never be. If they lose him to another team, big deal! Do you really think the Orioles would be so afraid to lose him that they would not DFA him if they need his roster spot?

I forgot to note, drafted players had a July 12 deadline to sign this year. That deadline does not apply to undrafted free agents. I am not sure what the deadline for them is, I just know that, if there is one, it is later than drafted players.

Interesting, he was an all star in the Northwoods League this summer http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/player.html?playerid=1367841 He had TJ surgery in December 2017, is 3 years out of high school and, as stated in the link above had committed to playing for Oklahoma State next year after playing for San Joaquin Delta College, a Junior College in Stockton, CA. He evidently redshirted his Sophomore year and would have been a redshirt Junior for Oklahoma State next year. Maybe he is more than just filler. I would bet he got a pretty decent bonus to sign ($100K or more). Since the Orioles had some money left from their draft slots, they could have gone over $125K with the amount over that counting against their slot money. The rules for undrafted free agents are the same as signings after the 10th round in the draft.

It is a hard cap, there are no sanctions.

It is a hard cap now, you cannot spend over your combined allotment and what you have traded for. Contracts that put a team over would not be approved by MLB.

Players that sign during the year they turn 16 are not allowed to play in the league during that year and sign deals starting the next year.

So am I.

The failure to sign and 11th round pick is a big failure? Maybe he lasted until the 11th round because had not made up his mind on what to do? Maybe the Orioles thought the risk was worth taking in the 11th round? Maybe he changed his mind?

But going back to complete the degree is not the same as playing your senior year. The college experience would not be the same if/when they go back to complete their degree.

Sometimes it depends on the financial situation of the family. Sometimes to these players it is worth it to go back to school for their senior year and knowingly sacrifice a good bit of money to do so. Sometimes the team has to pay enough to get the player to sacrifice his senior year. College is more than the degree and the money it would cost to get it. The college experience is worth something as well. If just money was involved in the decision, it would be an easy decision, but sometimes that is not the case.

If the Orioles want to sign Hammer(which I think they really do), I believe they are going to have to go above the $125K slot amount.

Signed for full slot

Zach Watson signed for full slot

The Orioles could always buy/trade for one of the other picks.

This is mostly why players move (to get more attention from scouts). This will continue to happen. It was at least part of the reason why Reyes moved. With the new International bonus allotment restrictions fewer players will have incentive to move to avoid the draft.

It is fairly common for someone born in America but with connections in the DR to move to the DR and be declared an international free agent. Top prospect of the Cardinals Alex Reyes was born in New Jersey and lived most of his life in the US, but moved to the DR and signed as an international free agent with the Cardinals at age 18. It has nothing to do with citizenship.

They could sign 29 players for $300K each if they chose to. You can have 2-3 teams in the DSL if you need to. Saying that, I hope they do sign Mesa for a fairly reasonable amount and can sign several other quality prospects. You are probably not going to find very much for international players that are not in the top 30-50 in rankings on the internet. This is just because, the amount of money/time needed to research and give such information is not available to the internet site managers. The Orioles do have some good scouts in the DR. One such scout seems to be Calvin Maduro who the Orioles signed out of Aruba in 1991. He seems to have an inside track on the players available in Aruba/Curacao and has been involved with signing a few players from there for the Orioles. Hopefully the Orioles can grab a few prospects that he likes.

There is a lot of quality to be found in the international market for baseball beyond just the top 30 to 50 players that are ranked by some internet site. I do not think that Jonathan Schoop was ranked in the top 50 when he signed with the Orioles. Same with Eduardo Rodriguez. If the Orioles signed more of these type players this year, would you not be happy? I am sure that there are many future Major Leaguers that have yet to be signed that are eligible to be signed during this international signing period. Jean Carlos Encarnacion, who the Orioles just got from the Braves, was signed when he was 18 years old (he could have signed when he was 16). The resources other teams have to spend is very restricted now, where it was not in the past (which makes International spending allotments worth more this year than ever). Therefore, there should still be a good bit of talent left. The Orioles can take a bigger bite of that apple that is left than anybody else can this year.

It is surprising how many people here seem to think that the Orioles have nothing at all set up in the Dominican. They have had DSL teams for quite a while. They used to have a presence in the old VSL (Venezuelan Summer League). I am sure the Orioles have an idea of who they will be able to sign. They will just be willing and able to sign better and more prospects than before. Hopefully they do not sign as many players that have been released by previous teams as they have before. I would love to see next years DSL team stocked with 16-18 year olds and no 20-22 year olds.

I guess so!