ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that 17-year-old Dominican righty Rafael DePaula is currently mulling over an offer from the Mariners. DePaula hit the market last month after serving a one-year suspension because he apparently lied about his age. The Yankees and Red Sox are also known to be interested in the righthander.
In a separate tweet, Arangure mentions that DePaula has changed agents, going from Pa'Lante Agency to Kuki Acevedo. The three parties reached an agreement in which Pa'Lante will receive some commission on whatever contract he ends up signing (another Twitter link).
The 6'-3" DePaula has hit 97mph with his fastball in the past, and is in line for a seven-figure payday. He's considered the equivalent of a first round pick.
Lock him up Theo. We need more minor leaguers to make super trades and such.
I think NOT. M’s are gonna get him. Watch. No Yankees, No Red Sox. Sorry to kill your future dreams.
I don’t know why, but I have this feeling that Yankee and Red Sox will get over it pretty quickly if they fail to sign DePaula.
Generally, winning 90+ games a year makes for a pretty good distraction.
Get him M’s… we could use another ace pitcher behind King Felix!
Did cliff lee fall off a cliff?
Is DePaula major league ready this year? No.
Lee is a free agent after this year, so by the time DePaula IS ready, Lee will most likely be gone.
It will also take him 3+ years of minor league prep to be ready meaning my then felix will be leaving soon as well..
Or he’ll be ready right before Felix signs his next big contract with the M’s
There’s a LOT bigger of a chance that Felix will be there and Lee won’t, than vice versa.
He could end up being a quality pick up for whoever signs him.
I’d sign DePaula as soon as possible.
Maybe I’m just being greedy but I want him joining fellow high upside latins Teheran, Vizcaino, Delgado and Lopez down in our low minors. We may be reluctant to spend on another big prospect after just signing Salcedo and pitching isn’t a huge need but you can never have too many pitching prospects.
I’m just curious.. Did he lie about being older or younger?
Article says he is 17 now. So I would guess older.
Why would any prospect lie about being older? The reason these guys get so much money is that they are usually 16 and show great potential that a club feels it can cultivate. A 16 year old pitcher throwing 95 will get a bigger bonus then an 18 year old because there is more projection left
This has nothing to do with Johnny Damon.
Haha!
I think that this is probably right. I’d personally be surprised if Felix sticks in Seattle after the extension he signed ends, but DePaula is going to take at least 3-4 years before he’ll be able to make an impact at the ML level. To act as if the DePaula signing is anything more than the addition of a very good prospect would be silly.
How so? He’s gonna win a world championship with the M’s.. there will be more than enough reason’s for him to stay.
Well, for one, you’re quite the optimist.
Secondly, he’s going to command a Sabathia-like deal when he hits free agency if he stays healthy, and I’m not sure that it makes much sense for Seattle to spend that kind of cash on one player, especially a pitcher with so many innings on his arm already.
But i m sure it would make sense to you if Boston or New York signed him.
Well, duh.
It’s a lot easier to take that kind of risk when you have substantially more resources.
Pretty simple.
I am optimistic. I’m not bragging or claiming when it’s gonna happen. How does it not make sense for Seattle to spend that kind of money? They just signed him for 5 years and 78 million. What only the Bostons, LA’s, NY’s and other big teams like that can spend “Sabathia-like money” on every player not grown in their farm system? Your argument is purely absurd. It makes no sense for the team that brought him up to sign him but it makes sense for the larger markets to sign him. I don’t know how your even seriously bringing up signing Felix after he just resigned with Seattle.
Yea but Boston and New York would crawl over broken glass to sign a player with so many innings on his arm. And not every player feels the need to sign with Boston and New York anyway
Uh..
you were the one that mentioned Boston and New York, not me.
I have to wonder if the M’s development of Felix might play into this. While they are from different countries, Felix also signed very young and is clearly happy to be an M and happy with how they’ve treated him.
And then there’s Safeco, a pitcher’s dream and the wonderful defense Jack Z espouses.
As to those who comment on Lee wanting Sabathia money, he also said he was ready to to sign an extension in Philly.
I wouldn’t bet against Jack Z on any of this.
Probably feels that way because the Yankees are involved with 100% of the players even rumored to be asking for seven figures.
Loyal players? You are counting Cliff Lee as a loyal Mariner? I may be wrong and quite often am, but to the best of my knowledge, Cliff Lee has yet to pitch an inning for the M’s. Not sure how Lee staying or going has anything to do with loyalty. As a matter of fact, I personally think that unless the M’s are the highest bidders, he won’t stay. A player his age (and again this is just my opinion) with a relatively short resume as a star will take the money and contract that is the best.
Then again, he may be loyal to a team that he has never played for……
Lee has publicly said that he wants Sabathia-like money. That’s pretty much the primary reason that they dealt Lee to get Halladay: Halladay showed significantly more willingness to sign something like the 3/60 deal that he agreed to.
Woahdude,
I understand what you trying to get at with what you said. Just because you didn’t come up with a team or have played their for significant time doesn’t mean you cannot show loyalty. If Lee absolutely loves Seattle and he is treated great and is offered a more than fair contract why not stay? Especially if the player and his family like it. Now I am not saying that is exactly what is going to happen, but there is no requirement for many years with a certain organization in order to show loyalty to them.