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2013-14 International Prospects

International Signings: Luis Tejada

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Here's a look at today's significant international signings…

  • The Reds have agreed to terms with Dominican left-hander Luis Tejada on a $600K bonus, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. Tejada, 19, originally signed with the Braves for $125K, but that contract was voided after it was learned that he lied about his age. While sitting out and serving a penalty for the false age, Tejada's velocity increased from 88-92 mph to the mid-90s, according to Badler, leading to a larger bonus. The $600K bonus is the largest handed out by the Reds since the July 2 signing period began. Cincinnati entered this year's signing period with the second-smallest international bonus pool.

Indians Agree To Terms With Leandro Linares

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The Indians and 19-year-old Cuban right-hander Leandro Linares have agreed to terms on a $950K bonus, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. The Tribe was said to be close to a deal in the $1MM vicinity over the weekend.

Badler calls him one of Cuba's top young pitchers and writes that the 6'3", 200-pound Linares sits 89-93 mph with his fastball, topping out at 94 mph. He also flashes a plus curveball at times and throws a potentially average changeup, according to Badler. Pitching in Cuba's 18U national league last season, he posted a 1.91 ERA with a 76-to-46 K/BB ratio in 66 innings. Not surprisingly, his command is the biggest issue for scouts.

Because Linares is younger than 23 and hasn't played in a Cuban professional league for at least three years, his signing comes out of the Indians' international bonus pool. Cleveland began the 2013-14 signing period with a pool of $3.64MM and has previously signed Dominican shortstop Willy Castro for $850K and outfielder Junior Soto for $600K.

Indians Close To Signing Cuban RHP Leandro Linares

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The Indians are close to signing Cuban pitcher Leandro Linares for about $1MM, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez reports. Linares, now 19, previously pitched for the Cuban 16-and-under national team, and for Villa Clara in the Cuban 16-and-under and 18-and-under national championships, Sanchez notes. Linares is 6'3 and 205 pounds.

Since Linares is just 19 and has not played in a Cuban professional league for at least three years, his signing will have to come out of the Indians' international bonus pool. The Indians began the 2013-14 signing season with a bonus pool of $3.64MM. The Indians previously signed Dominican shortstop Willy Castro for $850K and outfielder Junior Soto for $600K.

International Signings: Astros, Dodgers, Orioles

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Here are today's international signings…

  • The Astros signed Dominican shortstop Wander Franco, Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle reports. According to Smith, the team began following the now 16-year-old Franco when he was just 13 (Twitter links). He'll receive $575,000, Ben Badler of Baseball America writes. In a short scouting report, Badler notes that the 6-foot, 180-pound Franco is a nephew of Angels shortstop Erick Aybar and former big leaguer Willy Aybar. Though not a toolsy player, the switch-hitting Franco impressed some teams with his performances against live pitching.
  • Badler also reports that the Dodgers signed Alberto Estrella out of the Dominican Republic for $600,000. A 16-year-old right-handed hitter with power potential, Estrella is notable for his size, as he stands at 6'4" and weighs 195 pounds. Though he's played some shortstop and might be able to handle third base, his build suggests that he could end up moving to a corner outfield position or first base.
  • The Orioles signed South Korean lefty Jung-hyun Yoon, Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net reported earlier this month (Twitter link). According to a report from Yonhap, Yoon was just a mid-round draft pick in the Korea Baseball Organization out of high school, but Orioles scout Choi Eun-chul says the team believes he's already good enough to pitch in A ball. However, the O's plan to start him in the Rookie League. Yoon, who has touched 92 mph with his fastball, says he hopes to emulate the success of the Dodgers' Hyun-jin Ryu. Yonhap's article didn't include a dollar figure for the signing.

Jen-Ho Tseng, Cubs Close To Deal

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The Cubs are close to a deal with Taiwanese pitcher Jen-Ho Tseng, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez reports. Sanchez expects that Tseng's bonus will cost the Cubs a little over $1.5MM. Sanchez had tweeted on Monday that the Cubs had emerged as the favorite to sign Tseng.

Sanchez ranked Tseng the No. 29 international prospect. The 18-year-old Tseng has a fastball that reaches 95 MPH, along with a curve and slider. He was the youngest player on Chinese Taipei's WBC roster.

The Cubs have already signed Gleyber Torres for $1.7MM, Jefferson Mejia for $850K, Erling Moreno for $650K and Johan Matos for $270K, and they have an agreement with top outfield prospect Eloy Jimenez for $2.8MM. That means they will have exceeded their $5.52MM international bonus pool even before the Tseng signing.

The Cubs can still trade for the right to spend more bonus pool money, but Sanchez notes that they can only do so up to a 50 percent increase over their original $4.56MM pool. If they traded up to the maximum amount, that would leave them with a bonus pool of $6.84MM. Assuming Tseng signs for an even $1.5MM and that the Jimenez deal is completed, the Cubs will spend $7.7MM just on Jimenez, Torres, Tseng, Mejia, Moreno and Matos.

If the Cubs exceed their pool by 10 to 15%, they cannot sign an international prospect for more than $500K during the 2014-15 signing period. If they exceed it by more than 15%, they cannot sign a player for more than $250K. In either case, they would have to pay a 100% tax on this year's overage. It now appears very likely that the Cubs will exceed their 2013-14 bonus pool by more than 15%, which may be a plan they developed on the fly — they recently traded for more pool space in the Scott Feldman and Ronald Torreyes deals, and it's hard to see why they would have done that if they planned on paying the stiffest penalty for exceeding their pool.

MLBTR's Steve Adams wrote last week about the Cubs' international bonus situation.

International Signings: Mariners, D’Backs, Red Sox

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Here are today's international signings, with the newest moves at the top of the page…

  • The Mariners have signed 16-year-old Venezuelan shortstop Luis Rengifo, Baseball America's Ben Badler reports.  Rengifo is a 5'10", 165-pound switch-hitter "who impressed scouts with his bat control and performance against live pitching," Badler writes.
  • The Diamondbacks confirmed the signings of catcher Jose Herrera ($1.06MM bonus) third baseman Josue Herrera ($150K) and outfielder Francis Martinez ($350K) today, and also announced the signings of Dominican right-hander Argency Hiciano ($70K), Dominican outfielder Jose Lopez ($200K) and Venezuelan infielder Didimo Bracho ($80K).  MLB.com's Tyler Emerick reported the dollar figures, and also notes that the D'Backs have spent $1.91MM of their approximately $2.356MM international bonus pool.
  • The Red Sox have signed Dominican outfielder Yoan Aybar, WEEI.com's Alex Speier reports.  Aybar, 16, is a 6'2", 165-pound left-handed hitter who didn't make Baseball America's list of the top 30 international prospects but made their list of honorable mentions.  BA's Ben Badler says Aybar is a raw hitting prospect "but he’ll have to make adjustments to get better against live pitching."  Aybar's throwing arm is strong enough that he could be converted to pitching if he can't develop his bat.

Quick Hits: Green, Rosales, Blue Jays

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The Athletics are set to promote Grant Green for their series in Pittsburgh tomorrow, and the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser suggests that the move could result in Adam Rosales being designated for assignment. Green is hitting .318/.374/.500 for Triple-A Sacramento, while Rosales is batting .200/.273/.331 for Oakland. The A's could use Green as a right-handed complement to second baseman Eric Sogard, Slusser suggests, particularly since the Pirates will start lefties Jeff Locke and Francisco Liriano in the upcoming series. Rosales, meanwhile, has played sparingly since mid-June. Here are more notes from around MLB.

  • The Blue Jays just signed sixth-round draft pick Matt Boyd for just $75K (compared to a slot value of $250K), which is significant because the Jays have now saved nearly $1.8MM against their bonus pool, Jim Callis of Baseball America tweets. (The Jays also recently signed second-rounder Clinton Hollon for significantly below slot, and several other picks have signed for below slot as well.) The Boyd signing confirms what had already seemed to be the Jays' strategy — the Jays appear to be positioning themselves to land first-rounder Phil Bickford, along with 11th-rounder Jake Brentz and 30th-rounder Rowdy Tellez, all of whom are perceived as being tough signs. Tellez, Callis says, will likely cost the Jays second-round money.
  • Kiley McDaniel of Scout.com confirms (or reports) a number of signings of international players, including a few significant ones not yet mentioned on MLBTR: Kelvin Beltre (Giants, $650K), Rudy Giron (Padres, $600K), Yoan Aybar (Red Sox, $450K), and Adrian Valerio (Pirates, $400K).

AL Central Notes: Indians, Twins, Alvarez

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On this day in 2002, the Tigers acquired Carlos Pena and Jeremy Bonderman in a three-team trade that sent Jeff Weaver to the Yankees and Ted Lilly to the Athletics. None of the other players in the deal (John-Ford Griffin, Jason Arnold and Franklyn German) amounted to much, but 11 years later, Lilly, Pena and Bonderman are all still on Major League rosters. Here's the latest out of the AL Central…

  • MLB.com's Jordan Bastian writes that acquiring a starting pitcher has become "a talking point" in the Indians' front office, and it's likely that the team will also pursue bullpen help prior to the non-waiver trade deadline.
  • While the Indians' rotation has exceeded expectations in 2013, MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince writes that the front office would still like an upgrade to help compete with the Tigers down the stretch. Castrovince adds that the Tribe sees no point in looking at No. 4 and No. 5 starters, because they have plenty of similar depth. However, as they don't view 2013 as an "all or nothing" season, it's likely they'll try to pursue pitchers that are controlled beyond this season. He speculates that Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Samardzija and Bud Norris would interest GM Chris Antonetti.
  • The Twins are among the teams interested in Taiwanese right-hander Jen-Ho Tseng, tweets Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Tseng, 18, ranked as the No. 29 international prospect in this year's class, according to MLB.com. He was the youngest player named to this year's Chinese Taipei roster in the World Baseball Classic.
  • Sanchez also tweets that one of his sources says previous reports linking the Twins to Cuban outfielder Dariel Alvarez are inaccurate. The most recent connection between Minnesota and Alvarez said that the Twins expected the 24-year-old to be too pricey. Sanchez adds that he's still trying to gauge the market for Sanchez to determine his likely price tag.

Padres To Sign Mayky Perez

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MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez tweets that the Padres have agreed to terms with MLB.com's No. 9 international prospect, Dominican right-hander Mayky Perez, on a $635K signing bonus. Perez ranked 19th on the Top 30 list compiled by Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription required).

The 16-year-old can throw in the mid-90s and also features a slider and changeup, according to MLB.com's scouting report. Scouts praise his mechanics and loose arm action, but questions over his ability to repeat his delivery lead some to believe he could end up in the bullpen. Badler had Perez's fastball at 87-92 mph, noting that some scouts have wondered why he hasn't added velocity since last summer when he was still in that range.

Sanchez's tweet also reports that the Padres agreed to sign Dominican outfielder Luis Asuncion for a $350K signing bonus. Asuncion didn't crack the Top 30 for either MLB.com or Baseball America, but Badler listed him as a "prospect to watch." According to Badler's report he stands out for his size and raw power but is a below-average runner.

In April, Badler reported that the Padres have a $2,500,800 bonus pool. The Friars' other largest signing to date was Venezuelan shortstop Ruddy Giron for $600K.

Cubs Willing To Incur International Spending Penalties

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Last night, in analyzing the Cubs' international expenditures, I noted that the team is on track to face some harsh penalties due to their bulk of signings since Tuesday. If the reported figures hold true, the Cubs would face a 100 percent tax on their overage and also be unable to sign a player from next year's international class for more than $500K. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that the Cubs like this year's crop of international free agents so much, that they're willing to make that sacrifice.

Wittenmyer spoke to general manager Jed Hoyer and manager Dale Sveum about the crop of talent, with Sveum calling the international market "a whole 'nother draft." Hoyer told Wittenmyer, "We really like some of the impact talent in this year’s international class. We feel there’s both depth and premium guys."

The Cubs'  $2.8MM signing of top-ranked prospect Eloy Jimenez is not yet official, so it seems that they should still be able to acquire additional bonus slots in trades to avoid some of those penalties. Per the new CBA, teams can acquire an additional 50 percent of their initial bonus pool. That means the Cubs, who have already acquired $963K, can acquire an additional $1,315,600. They currently project to be $899K over their pool.

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