International signing period

[Mex17]

July 2nd is almost upon us, and with it another opportunity to add some quick fixes to the depth of the farm system.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2008/266316.html

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2008/266380.html

Looks like the A's have the best chance at landing the crown jewel, which comes in the form of a 16 year old Dominican with an electric right arm. With all of Omar's talk about wanting to be major players in this market, I have to say that I'm a little pissed that we are seemingly not getting the best player(s). Maybe Bernazard ought to be spending less time undermining the major league manager and more time down in Boca Chica doing his actual job.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Yikes, there's a big-time vowel-to-consonant ratio in that last name. Quick, someone get Bernazard and Pedro to recruit this kid!

Also: Billy Beane breaking the bank to sign a 16-year-old pitcher? Huh? Did I read this wrong?

[Guest AG/DC]

I'm not sure why I'd be pre-emptively pissed at Omar Minaya. The Mets have been damn aggressive in the international market on his watch.

It's just hard, when you're signing 16-year-olds, to see the fruits of your labor blossom promptly, especially when you're trading some of them for Santanas and such.

[Mex17]

AG/DC wrote: I'm not sure why I'd be pre-emptively pissed at Omar Minaya. The Mets have been damn aggressive in the international market on his watch.

I suppose I'll wait then until I see what the bounty is. I want to see some arms that Jim Callis will put right into the Mets Top 10 Prospects list. . .even if they are years away.

[Frayed Knot]

The int'l market is generally the furthest thing from a "quick fix".
Most kids are the equivelent of HS sophmores and the idea is to sign a bunch of them with hopes that, after planting them in your academy along with proper watering and so on, one or two will blossom into something a few years down the road.

Throwing a bunch of money at one or two might get you a higher ceiling guy but it's a sttrategy that misses [u:5f9ea71758]A LOT[/u:5f9ea71758] more often than it hits.

[Mex17]

Frayed Knot wrote: The int'l market is generally the furthest thing from a "quick fix". Most kids are the equivelent of HS sophmores and the idea is to sign a bunch of them with hopes that, after planting them in your academy along with proper watering and so on, one or two will blossom into something a few years down the road. Throwing a bunch of money at one or two might get you a higher ceiling guy but it's a sttrategy that misses A LOT more often than it hits.

I certainly did not mean to say that I expected any of these players to be Mets within the next year or two. If anything, it could be a "quick fix" for levels as high as possibly Kingsport but more likely the Dominican League Mets. But I would hope that Baseball America would take note of our signings and upgrade our analysis of the farm system based upon them if the signings are good. They know who all these kids are already probably. I want BA to say the the Mets did the best job of this period.

[Frayed Knot]

No one is re-evaluating the strength of the farm system based on what's at Kingsport, or the GCL, or the Dominican Leagues.
Even with the handful of "top" guys - and BA doesn't really 'know' any of them, they're just repeating scuttelbutt from scouts and front office types - they'll note the singings and then essentially say 'let's look at this in two years and see how it's going'

[Methead]

"after planting them in your academy along with proper watering and so on, one or two will blossom into something"

Don't forget the fertilizer!

[Frayed Knot]

Nah, they don't get buried in fertilizer until they get to Shea ... or so I've heard.

[Guest AG/DC]

Mex17 wrote: [They know who all these kids are already probably.

I don't think that's true. A lot of Latin American stars played nothing more than sandlot ball when they signed and Baseball America had no idea who they were. It's good to know there's still somewhere in theis world where a team's scout can find talent before the press or combines do. And they can sign him straight up without having to draft him.

[Frayed Knot]

Baseball America says It's All Ovah! as far as the signing of this year's teen queen from the Carribean with Oakland walking away with either the biggest prize or the biggest bust -- status to be determined a half-decade or so from now.

[Frayed Knot]

Baseball America talks about the results of high-bonus foreign teens in this week's Q&A

They refer to it as an "extremely risky" way to aquire talent, saying that;
"... projecting high school players is difficult enough, but at least they're a couple of years older and can be measured against some quality competion on the showcase circuit. Investing heavily in international amateurs requires a lot of faith in being able to determine what they'll be like 7-10 years down the line."

They go on to note that Miguel Cabrera ($1.8 million bonus from the Marlins in 1999) is the only one who has been able to carve out a role as a big league regular, let alone a star and that for every one of him there's a pile of those who don't: Wily Mo Pena ($2.4 mil, Yankees, 1999), Joel Guzman ($2.25 mil, Dodgers, 2001), Jackson Melian ($1.6 mil, Yankees, 1996), Ricardo Aramboles ($1.52 mil, Yankees, 1998) and Willy Aybar ($1.4 mil, Dodgers, 2000).
Melian and Aramboles didn't even make it to the majors.

MLB teams have cut back on their big-bonus signings of amateur Pacific rim talent for the same reason.