FRIDAY: Barreto obtained a $1.45MM bonus, ESPN.com's Keith Law reports (on Twitter). Luis Castillo obtained an $800K bonus from Toronto, Law adds.
MONDAY: The Blue Jays have signed Venezuelan shortstop/centerfielder Franklin Barreto, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 5'9", 175-pound prospect is Baseball America's top-ranked international prospect in the July 2nd class. Terms of the deal are not yet known but Barreto had been expected to sign with the Blue Jays for nearly $2MM.
Badler writes that few amateurs have ever matched the 16-year-old's history of dominance representing Venezuela in international competitions. Several teams had Barreto as the No. 1 player on their board and some scouts project him as a future plus hitter. Most teams, however, don't expect him to stick and shortstop and expect to see him wind up in centerfield.
Wow, they are really stacking that farm.
Remind me of what GM Gillick did back in the 80’s. Slowly stack the farm. Then, once the team is competitive, it will stay competitive for the years to come.
Actually, that’s also what Jon Daniels did, and is continuing to do with the Rangers.
Good comparison. But, frankly, Anthopolous seems to be outdoing Gillick in the amateur talent acquisition area. I don’t think Toronto fans have any idea what will hit them in two to three years time.
SS or CF either way if he makes it then he will play a premium position. He was someone i wanted the Yankees to get now that he is off the table i hope they take a look at Gustavo Cabrera.
Plus-plus speed (70 out of 80) and solid arm (55 out of 80) profiles him much better in CF than SS. Besides, Yankees already have Mason Williams.
And the Jays already have Gose/Rasmus in CF and Escobar/Hecheveria at SS. You can never have to much talent at premium positions
Given the lack of middle infield depth in the Jays system, would they at least look at him at SS? Or just screw it and have him straight at CF?
Best pattern for making that decision is let him play it until someone proves they can do it better. Then you start sliding them down the defensive scale.
Pretty much everyone who gets signed is going to be the best or 2nd best athletes in their respective amateur teams, which is why such a large percentage of players are signed/drafted as SS/CF. Those are the toughest positions to play, so you put your best athletes there. Once you get to pro ball, it’s not like these guys are highschoolers playing with 12 year olds anymore (in terms of how good the best are compared to league average), and the discrepancy in talent reduces, which is when guys get shifted to other positions.
I’m not saying that this particular case has anything to do with that, but so many guys sign as SS or CF and a massive percentage of those shift to other positions once they fill out and are surrounded by better competition. Like, Mike Morse is the size of a tight end now, but was drafted as a shortstop.
Agreed.
Also it is ‘easier’ to transfer out of SS/CF to another position, at least from a defensive point of view.
I remember several years ago, Aaron Hill was drafted as a SS, but ultimately moved to 2B because he could better handle his position. It worked out well because Toronto also needed a 2B, but that’s another story.
A similar thing happened to Miguel Cabrera, who was originally signed as a SS, but eventually transferred to 3B and then LF and then 1B and now 3B again. However, he never touched SS again.
Sounds like his future with the Jays will be at second base since Shortstop and centerfield depth is pretty loaded in their organization..
He’s 16. Just let him play where he has the most value. If he can play a premium position, he’ll play there, especially under the eyes of admitted ‘value whore’ AA.
Again, he’s 16. Just sayin’.
Agreed – the youngest SS playng today is (I think) Starlin Castro at 22.
Barreto has 6 years of minor league conditioning before he gets that old, who knows what will happen in the next 6 years? 6 years ago SS for Toronto was John McDonald and Russ Adams!
Who is Luis Castillo?
Good question. Luis Castro is probably the kid he meant. Jays were rumored to have signed Jose Castillo, but that was later retracted. Between Barreto, Castro and the other kid they’ve supposedly signed (Richard Urena?), their $2.9 million is pretty well gone.