Pre signing 2022 International Signing Class discussion

[Can_of_corn]

10 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Seems like a pretty sound strategy to me.

I wouldn't be spending much money on 16 year old arms- no matter how live they were.

Give me 50 arms for 10 k a pop vs. 1 arm for 500 K, and I like my odds.

I was as much pure talent as I can get.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, RZNJ said:

We signed Raul Rangel a couple of years ago and he looks like a good one.   We also signed Luis Gonzalez 2 years ago and he was a 500K type of signing.   We have not signed a 1M + pitcher but we've only had 3 such signings up to this point.    There are been plenty if Latin pitchers signed but nothing as high profile as Hernandez, Basallo, and Tavera.

I think if you look around the majors, the Latin American position players are more common than pitchers.   Don’t ask me why, or to back it up right now.   That’s my impression.    I do recall seeing some sort of breakdown by position once.

Edit - my impression is totally wrong, judging by the the players who debuted in 2021.   21 of 34 players from the DR, 6 of 12 from Venezuela were pitchers.   

[Grady]

7 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Things I learned by watching this clip:

1) Prieto has a nice swing, likes to go the other way. Seems to be a good bunter.
2) There are guys playing center field in the Cuban Leagues that look like they should be playing beer league softball
3) Between pitches it appears that everyone from the pitcher, hitter, umpire and catcher all take a little break before the next pitch is thrown like 40 seconds later. Games must be like 4 hours long.
4) Whoever made this video doesn't really understand how to make a highlight video! 
5) The quality of pitching is not very good in the Cuban League. They guy he homers off of towards the end of the clip makes Cesar Valdez look like a fireballer.

Good observations and love your comments.

 Be careful what you say about “beer league” softball. I promise my over 50 team would impress you. Not saying I am any good, just my team is. Outfielders get to balls better then you would think. Most are over 55 yrs old

[Ruzious]

Here's an article on him from a year ago:  https://calltothepen.com/2020/04/23/international-prospects-cesar-prieto-next-great-cuban-2b/  He was the leadoff hitter for the Cuba National Team and hit .438 in the Pan-Am Games.  

[Pickles]

4 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I was as much pure talent as I can get.

Well, as I laid out above, in the specific circumstance we are referring, you'd probably be better off diversifying.  

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Grady said:

Good observations and love your comments.

 Be careful what you say about “beer league” softball. I promise my over 50 team would impress you. Not saying I am any good, just my team is. Outfielders get to balls better then you would think. Most are over 55 yrs old

They may, but put them in a professional size baseball outfield and I bet they look like beer league softball players chasing balls! lol

[jabba72]

Lets hope he is seriously twitchy because at 5'8 there isnt alot of projection there. 

[Can_of_corn]

19 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Well, as I laid out above, in the specific circumstance we are referring, you'd probably be better off diversifying.  

I'd rather take the chance for a real difference maker than hedging my bet and ending up with a couple fringe major leaguers.

How do you get 50 arms anyway?  Hold open tryouts?  Sign random kids off the street?  Where do you put them?  You think the facilities they are building can properly develop and vet that many a year?

How many of the 50 are you willing to release come year two? 

Are you signing 50 16 year olds a year and cutting 40 17 year olds?

[Pickles]

12 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'd rather take the chance for a real difference maker than hedging my bet and ending up with a couple fringe major leaguers.

How do you get 50 arms anyway?  Hold open tryouts?  Sign random kids off the street?  Where do you put them?  You think the facilities they are building can properly develop and vet that many a year?

How many of the 50 are you willing to release come year two? 

Are you signing 50 16 year olds a year and cutting 40 17 year olds?

I mean I was just using round numbers.  Call it 10.

When you're talking about 16 year old international pitchers, you are easily talking about the highest variant group of prospects there are.  High bonuses will equate with "real difference maker" here less than in any other kind of acquisition.

There's a reason the more "sabermetrically-inclined" front offices have focused on acquiring positional talent.

[RZNJ]

Should be fairly easy to see if the Predro Martinez difference makers were predominantly high bonus guys or not. I just posted an article about Ronald Acuna being a 100K signing and I believe Vlad Sr. was not a big bonus guy.  That won't necessarily answer if it's better to spread it out or blow it on one guy but if you read the article about the 2014 class you would most likely want to spread it out.

[Grady]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

They may, but put them in a professional size baseball outfield and I bet they look like beer league softball players chasing balls! lol

Younger days we played on same size fields in big tournaments. Using 3 outfielders not 4.  330  down lines, 380 centerfield.

i get your point though. Kind of looked bad when 2 fielders ran into each other. Hopefully this young man is the real deal.

 Appreciate your comments on players. 

[RZNJ]

So where does Prieto start this year?  If he's a 2B, gotta figure one of him or Connor Norby start at Bowie with the other at Frederick. I'm guessing the experience and accomplishments internationally and in Cuba gives Prieto the edge.  So, does this mean that Westburg or Ortiz starts at Norfolk in order to have Prieto at Bowie?

[Frobby]

10 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Should be fairly easy to see if the Predro Martinez difference makers were predominantly high bonus guys or not. I just posted an article about Ronald Acuna being a 100K signing and I believe Vlad Sr. was not a big bonus guy.  That won't necessarily answer if it's better to spread it out or blow it on one guy but if you read the article about the 2014 class you would most likely want to spread it out.

I did a look at this last year, looking at player’s from 2013-19.   If I had to guess, I’d say evaluations have gotten better over time, so I’d look at this before reaching back for Pedro Martinez and Vlad Sr.  Lots of really good commentary in this thread too.

 

[wildcard]

8 hours ago, RZNJ said:

So where does Prieto start this year?  If he's a 2B, gotta figure one of him or Connor Norby start at Bowie with the other at Frederick. I'm guessing the experience and accomplishments internationally and in Cuba gives Prieto the edge.  So, does this mean that Westburg or Ortiz starts at Norfolk in order to have Prieto at Bowie?

Elias has a tendency to start guys low and move them up fast if they excel.   I think Prieto begins the season at  2B at Delmarva,  Norby at Aberdeen,  Ortiz at Bowie and Jones at Norfolk.

[Frobby]

44 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Elias has a tendency to start guys low and move them up fast if they excel.   I think Prieto begins the season at  2B at Delmarva,  Norby at Aberdeen,  Ortiz at Bowie and Jones at Norfolk.

Like you, I’m guessing, but I doubt Prieto starts that low.  He’s 22 and has played in a pretty high level league in Cuba and excelled there.   I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with him.