Poll: Are you disappointed with the lack of international signings?

[Moose Milligan]

To be fair, Trea didn't make the topic. Lex did.

But if he HAD made the topic, you're right... it should've read as you wrote it.

You're absolutely right. I forgot Lex started it.

[wickedwitch]

So besides the big 3 pitchers, super stud catcher and everyday LF -- where is the next crop? That just sounds weird to me, almost unrealistic. You're talking about 5 starters for the next 5 years with your franchise... and you ask where the next crop is. This team is designed to win with pitching, and by all accounts... at least 3/5 of the rotation is taken care of, maybe even 4/5. With where the system has been, I'm incredibly grateful. The trade deadline hasn't happened yet, so we don't know where we are going to be. But if you told me when Mcphail was here day one that within 2 seasons we'd have an OF for 10 years and 3 pitchers who all grade out well... I'd take that. Oh yeah, we also have a franchise catcher to boot. Forgive me for not asking for more. We did all with "just a few trades." I'm not complaining.

We should never, ever be satisfied with the talent in our system. We can always get better.

[ChaosLex]

You're absolutely right. I forgot Lex started it.

No one puts Lex in the corner...

[TakebackOPACY]

Here's a list of Latin and South American O's in the farm system's US based teams:

GCL O's

Luiyi Batista (Dominican Republic)

Angel Cespedes (Dominican Republic)

Jario De La Cruz (Dominican Republic)

Eiri Ramirez (Dominican Republic)

Jean Carlos Reyes (Dominican Republic)

Daurin Tavarez (Dominican Republic)

David Calderon (Dominican Republic)

Xavier Lopez (Puerto Rico)

Moises Ciriaco (Dominican Republic)

Dennis Perez (Puerto Rico)

Anyi Tejeda (Dominican Republic)

Edward Cintron (Puerto Rico)

Grolmann Gonzalez (Dominican Republic)

Jaynnertt Melenciano (Dominican Republic)

David Rivera (Puerto Rico)

Bluefield O's

Jorge Almanzar (DR)

Sam Taveras (DR)

Janensis Guerrero (DR)

Dashenko Ricaro (Curacao)

Omar Casamayor (Venezuela)

Edhino Meyer (Curacao)

Joel Polanco (DR)

Javier Santana (DR)

Luis Ramirez (DR)

Larry Rivera (DR)

Aberdeen Ironbirds

Levi Carolus (Curacao)

Garabez Rosa (DR)

Arthur Bonevacia (Curacao)

Richard D Oleo (DR)

Delmarva Shorebirds

Raul Rivero (Venezuela)

Luis Bernardo (DR)

Victor Castillo (Venezuela)

Rodolfo Cardona (Venezuela)

Elvin Polanco (DR)

Frederick Keys

Pedro Beato (DR)

Pedro Florimon, Jr. (DR)

Bowie Baysox

Fredy Deza (DR)

Luis Lebron (DR)

Radhames Liz (DR)

Wilfrido Perez (DR)

Guillermo Quiroz (Venezuela)

Miguel Abreu (Puerto Rico)

Ambiorix Concepcion (DR)

Norfolk Tides

Alberto Castillo (Cuba)

Steve Torrealba (Venezuela)

Jolbert Cabrera (Colombia)

Melvin Dorta (Venezuela)

Carlos Rojas (Venezuela)

The Puerto Rican players and a few other players who went to US colleges were probably drafted in the Rule 4 draft.

I didn't make this list to give an opinion. I just pictured that some people may read this thread and be under the impression that the O's hardly have any foreign based players.

[hatepaste]

Tony-OH doesn't think we're players for Sano and bigbird says we're not signing any impact international talent.

Lots of teams (including the abysmal Nats and Pirates) are running around signing talent while the O's have done... well, squadoosh.

Does this bother anyone or is it much ado about nothing? Poll to come...

I don't know if it has been said. But do we really want to model ourselves after the Nats and Pirates?

[JTrea81]

I don't know if it has been said. But do we really want to model ourselves after the Nats and Pirates?

It's not just the Nats and Pirates. It's the Nats and Pirates are doing the same thing the Yankees and Red Sox are, and we are not. And we have more resources that both the Nats and Pirates so it clearly isn't a lack of resource issue. It's a lack of effort or choosing not to.

[glenn__davis]

* The Puerto Rican players and a few other players who went to US colleges were probably drafted in the Rule 4 draft.

How many of them were signed as international FAs? I see you have Beato listed, but he was drafted in the U.S. amateur draft. Now, he may be the only one, I don't know, but certainly his is a different case altogether.

And yes, while we certainly have plenty of international players in our farm system, none of the players at AA or AAA are prospects. Maybe Lebron or Perez. You could maybe make a case for Florimon at A. Obviously there are lot of possiblities in the rookie league teams, but we know almost nothing about any of those players. They may be decent, or they may just be there to field a team.

Long story short, I don't think listing these guys really shows much (which, to be fair, you stated yourself).

I'm surprised at the amount of people who act like this is much ado about nothing. Signing international talent is going to be extremely important to the long-term success of this franchise. If you want to make the argument that it takes time to set-up, or that we're signing more guys to low-price contracts, well, I can understand that, but it's frustrating to see other teams making an apparently bigger investment here. I don't agree with JTrea or bigbird on much these days, but I agree with them here.