Sun: O's likely to make offer to Sano, have some interest in Chapman

[QBsILLEST1]

Somebody help me out.

There a latin american pitcher that we found a few years ago that was "reported" to be throwing 100mph. What was his name? He flopped in the minors.

Tony was on the radio once talking about him when we signed him.

It just goes to show how dicey it can be reading "reports". The only people I would trust is the Orioles scouting dept.

Radhames Liz? Daniel Cabrera? Luis Lebron? Pedro Beato?

[Moose Milligan]

Somebody help me out.

There a latin american pitcher that we found a few years ago that was "reported" to be throwing 100mph. What was his name? He flopped in the minors.

Tony was on the radio once talking about him when we signed him.

Francesqui or something.

[Hank Scorpio]

Whatever it takes to sign him which will be less than $6 million IMO. If we have to overpay, then you do it. Again signing Sano is more about opening the door to new market and a new talent pipeline than signing Sano himself. We can't afford to wait years and years to raise our profile. Slow and steady won't win the Latin talent race...

From Kiley McDaniel (again):

There are a handful of clubs (say six to eight) that have spent the most money in Latin America for years now, and thus have experienced scouts, key relationships, impressive facilities, recognizable Latin big-league stars, and the biggest international budgets. These teams had the infrastructure in place long before every other organization deemed it a necessity to set up shop in the Dominican. While teams can buy their way into "big spender" status as a strategic move, these original clubs still possess some advantages that can't be bought. This group of long-time big-spending clubs dominated the market in terms of quality signees for years, though some clubs with smaller budgets claim that the dominance is only in spending.

More:

1. Miguel Sano, SS, Dominican Republic: Sano is still in a tough situation to figure out, but it does seem to be generally agreed within the industry that he won’t sign for at least a few days after July 2nd, likely about a week or so. It's also agreed that the final three suitors are Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and Baltimore. The wait is for clubs to see the final results of MLB’s ongoing investigation of Sano's birth date, and while a few teams are happy with the outcomes of their own investigations, it can’t hurt to be a little extra-extra sure. Industry predictions about his price still run anywhere from $3.5 million to $4.5 million, though most seem to guess the final bonus will be about $3.75 million. That seems a little low given all the hype about Sano breaking Michael Ynoa’s record $4.25 million bonus, but very few people think record-breaking money is out there. Agent Rob Plummer probably likes it this way, as he’s consistently beat expectations in situations like this, such as last year, when he got $2.55 million for outfielder Rafael Rodriguez from the Giants, higher than anyone expected.

Let it play out, Sly. Take a breath before you walk into every situation guns blazing.

[zff4]

"Raising our profile in the DR" is somewhat irrelevant to the issue regarding Sano's worth and what we should offer. It's a cash economy down there and paying (or overpaying) for Sano isn't going to spread pixie dust to magically attract the better players to our org. The club's investment in our baseball academy in Boca Chica provides a headquarters for our DR operations and there's no necessity or benefit to "raising our profile".

We are there in the DR to find talent, not to raise our profiles by announcing that we are deep pocket chumps open for business to corrupt buscones who parlay young kids for a relative fortune. A decade of losing doesn't mean you risk your money unnecessarily. It does mean, however, you spend it more wisely.

The O's are doing their scouting homework on this kid. They'll offer what they've judged to be Sano's potential value. Doing our own armchair scouting on an internet board amusingly kills some time for us, but it's far removed from the serious business we're talking about.

[Sports Guy]

The Orioles have scouted this guy for a while...They have said they really like his talents...It is obvious that they are going to go after him...You know about what it is going to take to get him..You either are committed to go to that number or you aren't.

If you aren't, then they should be signing more Int'l talent than they are...Boston and NY are signing guys at a good rate and we are hoping to land this one big fish...If the Orioles don't land him, they will have failed, yet again, in the international signings.

We spent 10 million on an asian pitcher who hates the heat and had known leg issues...Part of that reason, as praised by members of this site, is to open the door for us in Asia.

Well, Sano is the same thing...he is a risk, just as Koji was but he helps open the doors for us and he has immense upside, much more than Koji.

[bird watcher]

Francesqui or something.

I don't think that is it exactly but I believe you are thinking of the same guy. Telling that nobody remembers him now.

[crawdad]

I don't think that is it exactly but I believe you are thinking of the same guy. Telling that nobody remembers him now.

That is the guy you were thinking of. He was supposedly hitting 98-100 in the offseason . . . came in to training camp with a high 80s fastball.

[Hank Scorpio]

The Orioles have scouted this guy for a while...They have said they really like his talents...It is obvious that they are going to go after him...You know about what it is going to take to get him..You either are committed to go to that number or you aren't.

If you aren't, then they should be signing more Int'l talent than they are...Boston and NY are signing guys at a good rate and we are hoping to land this one big fish...If the Orioles don't land him, they will have failed, yet again, in the international signings.

We spent 10 million on an asian pitcher who hates the heat and had known leg issues...Part of that reason, as praised by members of this site, is to open the door for us in Asia.

Well, Sano is the same thing...he is a risk, just as Koji was but he helps open the doors for us and he has immense upside, much more than Koji.

He is also a much bigger risk than Koji was.

These three storylines give us some insight, but they also get stale quickly when you wonder how legitimate business is done in a market that now has all 30 clubs eagerly spending millions per year. Given the relative guesswork on scouting the players, I prefer to focus more (but not exclusively) on the hows and whys of the grownups involved. We can't agree on MLB fantasy or amateur draft rankings of players in their 20s and 30s, so consider how futile it is to write long-form around the abilities of 16-year-olds, coming through a frequently corrupt foreign system with little to no game competition.

[Tony-OH]

Somebody help me out.

There a latin american pitcher that we found a few years ago that was "reported" to be throwing 100mph. What was his name? He flopped in the minors.

Tony was on the radio once talking about him when we signed him.

It just goes to show how dicey it can be reading "reports". The only people I would trust is the Orioles scouting dept.

That was the immortal Frank Gracesqui. David Stockstill and some other scouts saw him in the Dominican Winter Leagues during winter ball and said he was hitting the upper 90s. The Orioles signed him and he showed up to spring training throwing 91 MPH with little life. He also had a bad attitude. Not one of the Orioles better scouting conclusions.

[bird watcher]

That is the guy you were thinking of. He was supposedly hitting 98-100 in the offseason . . . came in to training camp with a high 80s fastball.

Thanks. See, I remembered him but not his name. How does a guy suddenly lose 10-12 MPH on the fastball? Bad Reports....

Edit after Tony's post: Ah, Thanks Tony. I thought the other name in this thread was a little off. Interesting that the O's had done some of their own scouting there. Maybe that fiasco made them realize they needed more time to observe these guys.

Second Edit: This guy is a different situation. I didn't realize he had spent as much time in Milb as he had.

[QBsILLEST1]

The Orioles have scouted this guy for a while...They have said they really like his talents...It is obvious that they are going to go after him...You know about what it is going to take to get him..You either are committed to go to that number or you aren't.

If you aren't, then they should be signing more Int'l talent than they are...Boston and NY are signing guys at a good rate and we are hoping to land this one big fish...If the Orioles don't land him, they will have failed, yet again, in the international signings.

We spent 10 million on an asian pitcher who hates the heat and had known leg issues...Part of that reason, as praised by members of this site, is to open the door for us in Asia.

Well, Sano is the same thing...he is a risk, just as Koji was but he helps open the doors for us and he has immense upside, much more than Koji.

Koji was a risk, and with all the risk involved, I still see it as a good signing. Though he cannot go very deep into games and is injured now, we have gotten a good bit of our 5 millions worth for the season so far and when he comes back he will probably pitch out of the pen giving us more depth and strength in the pen.....Sano isnt about now though like Koji was, he is about the future and is much more important to this team than a stopgap pitcher is/was. As I said before this kinda thing is right up AM's alley, he should make a good effort to sign him....

[JTrea81]

He is also a much bigger risk than Koji was.

We are paying Jay Gibbons $6 million to play for the Newark Bears.

I think we can afford risking less than that to sign Sano.

[Hank Scorpio]

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/Players/G/Franklyn-Gracesqui.shtml

[Hank Scorpio]

We are paying Jay Gibbons $6 million to play for the Newark Bears.

I think we can afford risking less than that to sign Sano.

That's a good example of why we SHOULDN'T do it!!!!!!!!!!

[waroriole]

If Sano is such a "watershed" player for our franchise, then why are only 2 teams remotely interested in signing this guy? Seriously, I think that's a legit question.

JTrea, I was mostly asking this question of you, since you are the most adamant about signing him, I guess I should have responded to one of your posts about him. If he is such a "watershed" can't miss prospect then why are there only two teams after him right now. This isn't a trap question, but one I would really like to know the answer to.

Can someone ask him this question for me, I assume he has me on ignore.