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By Tim Dierkes [March 27, 2008 at 2:09pm CST]
Baseball America's Ben Badler has the latest on 16 year-old Dominican shortstop Edward Salcedo. He says MLB is currently investigating Salcedo's birthdate (not an uncommon practice). Scott Boras and Co. represent the kid, but they're not talking. There were rumors he'd signed with the Tribe, but the Indians said two weeks ago that it wasn't true. Badler adds that Salcedo rejected a $2.5MM offer from the Giants and the D'Backs may be interested. Badler also writes:
Adding to the intrigue is Major League Baseball's recent firing of three investigators in the Dominican, including one who was working on Salcedo's case.
MLB's Latin operations manager says the firings are unrelated to the Salcedo case.
What a mess for a kid who’s age would put him at like a Soph/Jr in HS, with probably much less than a 50% shot to make the majors somewhere around the year 2013 or so…
Posted by: darkstar1661 | March 27, 2008 at 02:26 PM
How much older do they think this kid is?! If it's not too significant- i.e., if he's still young enough to expect significant physical growth- then I hope the O's get involved (though there's absolutely no talk of that). McPhail is talking all this noise about making inroads in the international market...this would be a splash. Kid's supposed to be crazy good right? Maybe with all this controversy, you sign him at a discount. Maybe you're lucky and he IS 16. Maybe he's 17 or 18, but still has crazy talent and a huge upside. And maybe he busts, but at least we've made noise in the market and announced ourselves as a presence that's willing to pay that DINERO.
Posted by: milehigh78 | March 27, 2008 at 03:00 PM
I wish the Jays would make more of these types of signings. Balbino Fuenmayor is the only really young Latin player they've recently signed.
Posted by: tr0mbone | March 27, 2008 at 04:00 PM
This kid is probably gonna end up being as screwed up socially as A-Rod. That guys had so much stuff just handed to him over the years that he just doesn't quite seem to get it.
Posted by: scribbletone | March 27, 2008 at 05:37 PM
What makes it tough for a team like the Jays to secure international talent is both the fact that they are "very far" from the Dominican, and they also lack a predominant baseball school on the islands.
I truthfully don't believe that any of the teams that have inquired on Salcedo are finished yet, regardless of his age. He isn't supposed to be the next "great" (unless you believe Boras's words), but players with this type of hype often show signs of a legitimate future throughout their minor league career. Whether that translates to Major League capabilities is yet to be seen.
Posted by: The Juice | March 27, 2008 at 09:30 PM