Jump to content

Nats lose a top-ten prospect...

Lt Melmo

By Lt Melmo
in MLB

Recommended Posts

Lt Melmo Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Lt Melmo

Posted
Posted

... to LIES!

A top Washington Nationals prospect and recipient of the largest international signing bonus in team history is not who he appeared to be. Esmailyn Gonzalez, who is listed as 19 years old on the team's roster, is actually 23-year-old Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo, four sources have told SI.com.

He was ranked #10 in BA's Washington rankings. He went from being a 19 year-old in the GCL to a 23 year-old in the GCL, which pretty much drains all of his prospect status.

If this happened to Brandon Erbe (#10 ranked by the OH), this board would explode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
crawdad Major Leaguer

crawdad

Posted
Posted

Yeah, we had him rated 8th in the system . . . now, not so much. I wonder how it is going to play with the ethics probe. Either this is an isolated issue or it may turn out that some money shifting is going on. The front office was involved in international ethics probing this past year.

Not sure how Bowden keeps his job. He does not do anything particularly well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
howie14 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

howie14

Posted
Posted

I'm going to admit to being dense on this one. How is the player falsifying his age a breach of ethics on the part of the Nats (as I inferred from the SI article)?

Is there a reason they would go out and intentionally overpay for an overaged player?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TGO Hangout Grand Counsel

TGO

Posted
Posted
I'm going to admit to being dense on this one. How is the player falsifying his age a breach of ethics on the part of the Nats (as I inferred from the SI article)?

Is there a reason they would go out and intentionally overpay for an overaged player?

The scouts or front office guys doing the signing would take a cut of the money. I'm not saying that happened here, but that's usually what is meant when this sort of "ethics breach" is discussed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ugen64 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

ugen64

Posted
Posted
Not sure how Bowden keeps his job. He does not do anything particularly well.

He's pretty good at finding bargain heap players (eg. Dmitri Young, Olsen/Willingham). He's just terrible at building teams and recognizing the value of players he already owns. Bowden really belongs in a scouting department IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Maverick2143 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Maverick2143

Posted
Posted

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090218&content_id=3843196&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

According to SI.com, which cited four sources, Gonzalez is actually a 23-year-old named Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo. The Nationals list him as being 19 years old.
The Nationals agreed to terms with Gonzalez on July 2, 2006. The switch-hitting Gonzalez received a $1.4 million signing bonus, the largest the club has paid for an international signing.
"This is an important signing," Kasten said at the time. "We can now compete for the best talent in Latin America. We will have a presence there."

Sickels had him rated #8 on the Nats list.

I thought it was interesting based on alot of discussions around here about the O's signing(or lack their of) top names in the DR and other Latin American countries.

I think it is a good reminder that teams need to be careful when signing these big bonus babies. Gonzalez/Lugo was scouted for over two years before he was signed and still managed to keep his identity/age a secret.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Maverick2143 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Maverick2143

Posted
Posted
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090218&content_id=3843196&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Sickels had him rated #8 on the Nats list.

I thought it was interesting based on alot of discussions around here about the O's signing(or lack their of) top names in the DR and other Latin American countries.

I think it is a good reminder that teams need to be careful when signing these big bonus babies. Gonzalez/Lugo was scouted for over two years before he was signed and still managed to keep his identity/age a secret.

Wow, completely missed the other thread....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Left Field AAA

Left Field

Posted
Posted
Wow, completely missed the other thread....

I find it amazing in this post 9-11 era that international ballplayers are still misrepresenting themselves and getting away with it. On the other hand, I cant remember anyone in recent times that has gotten busted for this. I do remember all the fallout after 9-11 when they tightened up the visa policies. Wasnt there an O's middle infield prospect that had to add a few extra years to his age?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Maverick2143 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Maverick2143

Posted
Posted
I find it amazing in this post 9-11 era that international ballplayers are still misrepresenting themselves and getting away with it. On the other hand, I cant remember anyone in recent times that has gotten busted for this. I do remember all the fallout after 9-11 when they tightened up the visa policies. Wasnt there an O's middle infield prospect that had to add a few extra years to his age?

Ed Rodgers....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
crawdad Major Leaguer

crawdad

Posted
Posted
He's pretty good at finding bargain heap players (eg. Dmitri Young, Olsen/Willingham). He's just terrible at building teams and recognizing the value of players he already owns. Bowden really belongs in a scouting department IMO.

Yeah, that is the same Dmitri Young earning millions as a MiL player in the Nats system this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • Roll Tide
      David Rubenstein 2024

      By Roll Tide · Posted

      I’d love to see a total redo of the concessions. The food for the most part sucks. The concessions are ridiculously priced for the offering both in quality and portion. I know they have discounts and stuff for “Birdland Memberships” season ticket plans. My company has tickets but they isn’t anyway to bestow the discounts to the folks using the tickets. Just price the stuff fairly to begin with an quit all of the game playing. I feel like I’m at Kohls with my wife leveraging Kohls Cash to get a fair price for something.
    • jabba72
      Enrique Bradfield Jr. 2024

      By jabba72 · Posted

      Here's how some other Oriole prospects have fared in Aberdeen.  Cowser .795 Kjerstad .674 Mayo .821 Henderson .775 Westburg .858 I would say Bradfield is doing pretty well at the moment. 
    • Safelykept
      Orioles attendance 2024

      By Safelykept · Posted

      Schedule starts to become conducive to increased attendance. You have Seattle the next 2 games(Sat and Sun), then the next 4 home stands( which brings us to All Star break) are as follows, week of Memorial day Boston and Tampa on the weekend, but with the holiday basically 4 weekend dates. Then Atlanta followed by Philly on the weekend, should be the best week of the year so far. Then a 7 game week of Cleveland with a 4 game weekend series against Texas. Finally The Cubs come to town followed by weekend against the  Yankees. Should be good.
    • survivedc
      Are we actually 27-14 with the highest runs/game in the AL?

      By survivedc · Posted

      It’s a lot of fun to win the division. 
    • Bemorewins
      Enrique Bradfield Jr. 2024

      By Bemorewins · Posted

      It’s not like Elias and Sig have been reliant solely upon top 5 picks. Wasn’t Westburg 1:30 and Mayo something like a 3rd rounder?  If Bradfield happened to be a pitcher, I would most certainly share your concerns. Because this front office has no track record in drafting and developing pitching, for the most part they haven’t even really tried. But the position players, for now I think they have that covered in spades. Bradfield hasn’t even had a half of a seasons to adjust to professional baseball. Rare is the player like Holliday, who just begins like a whirlwind and doesn’t stop until he gets to the big leagues.  Not that I’m telling you anything that you don’t already know as a long time baseball/Orioles fan, but most of these guys take a little time. Even our younger players on the big club are still growing/improving.
    • Hank Scorpio
      Austin Hays 2024

      By Hank Scorpio · Posted

      I agree Hays is fine to spell Mullins while he figures out how to swing a bat again. I also agree that Hays is disproportionately affected by the wall. If he wasn’t so perpetually dinged up, increasingly expensive and average, he would be an excellent trade candidate.  
    • oriolefan1035
      David Rubenstein 2024

      By oriolefan1035 · Posted

      Rubenstein came down the aisle for our section last night during the game tossing out dozens of hats and talking to the fans as he went. Awesome to have an owner that truly loves this team and enjoys being part of the crowd.

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...