The 2012 international free agent signing period opened today and plenty of signings will be coming in as teams look to spend within their $2.9MM allotment. We'll be keeping track of all of the day's major agreements under $1MM right here..
- The Athletics are finalizing an agreement with Luis Barrera that would pay the Dominican outfielder $450K, tweets MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez. Sanchez's colleague Jonathan Mayo ranked Barrera as the No. 13 prospect in this year's class.
- Badler also adds that the Indians have signed Dominican shortstop Grofy Cruz for a bonus of $400K. Cruz is expected to shift to third base soon, and is praised by Badler for his strong arm and raw power.
- Dominican third baseman Kelvin Esteves signed with the Braves for a $300K bonus, Badler writes. Badler praises Esteves' bat speed and raw power from the right side.
- The Dodgers also signed Dominican shortstop Cristian Gomez to an undisclosed bonus, writes Badler. Gomez was widely expected to receive a low six-figure bonus.
- The Dodgers issued a press release to announce four international signings: right-handers Lenix Osuna and William Soto, left-hander Victor Gonzalez, as well as catcher Julian Leon. Osuna is the son of former Dodgers righty Antonio Osuna. Soto hails from Venezuela while the other three were all signed out of Mexico. Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times tweets that the club spent about $1MM total on the four players.
- The Mets, who earlier today signed shortstop Amed Rosario to a $1.75MM bonus, also signed Venezuelan shortstop Miguel Patino and Dominican second baseman Franklin Correa, tweets ESPN's Adam Rubin. Rubin also notes that Rosario's bonus is the highest the Mets have ever given to an international free agent. That honor had previously gone to Fernando Martinez ($1.3MM).
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
The Phillies have signed Dominican catcher Deivi Grullon, the No. 15 international prospect for July 2, for $575,000.
Grullon, 16, is a defensive-oriented catcher with at least a plus arm.
The first names that came to my mind were Starlin, Danny and Albert
I know, I thought it was going to be some sort of retrospective.
You know Albert Pujols’ full name is José Alberto Pujols Alcántara. Coincidence huh?
Ahh, good point. Nontheless nobody calls him José. It’s like saying Manuel instead of Manny, Larry instead of Chipper, George instead of Babe, etc.
And it’s also common in Latin American countries to not call a person by their first name, but rather their middle name.
I call him Larry Jones.
I suppose because Met fans are sick of the name Chipper?
ouch…
Supposively Pujols was compared to Stanton type power when he was 16. I think that is neat.
If Stanton played for a big market team? He would be talked about as the next huge big time player and perennial all star.
There are very few people in the game with his power and ability to get on base and that i s also with the lineup the Fish have struggling so badly this year. His power is massive to all fields and he is pretty selective at the plate. He can crush inside, outside.. It just doesn’t matter. The marlins dearly need Morrison to stay hot, or for Ramirez to get his head screwed on straight and start hitting like he did 2 seasons ago.
can someone post a link to a clear explanation of how the international free agent signing period works?
Basically, if you turned 17 before today, you were elligible for last year’s july 2nd signing period, if you turn 17 AFTER today, you’re elligible for this year’s signing period, that’s the simple version of it.
From BA’s top 20 list, 8 of them are SS. 3 are catchers. Just found that interesting.
Can anyone tell me about the Cardinal’s signings?
Saw that Grullon has been drawing comparisons to Carlos Ruiz and Wilkin Rosario, I’ll take those kinds of comps.
Yet again the Nationals are useless on the international market. I don’t want to hear anything about this being the Expos franchise in a new location. The Expos were actually players in the Caribbean.
+1/2St.
Carlos Belen what do you think of the outfield walls depth at Petco? “No bueno” – Carlos Belen
Just out of curiosity, how will this affect the posting system out if Japan? Also, will it affect players, like Wei-Yin Chen, who were technically qualified as international free agents?
There’s something about like certain age like under 20 or 25 or something so established NPB players aren’t affected. There could be something saying Latin America too but I’m not sure.
Nice to see the Mets being active to help continue the farm building effort.
They’ve only been able to sign them for ~12 hours and only 6 have signed so far; there are dozens of kids who are going to be signed over the next few days/weeks, I’m sure the Cubs will sign a few of them.
I was wondering the same thing, but a recent update to this article says they signed Frandy De La Rosa, who MLB.com says has soft hands and a good feel for switch-hitting, along with top shelf makeup and work ethic. His arm is suspect and he needs to fill out and refine his hitting.
It’s interesting how the Cubs’ last few major signings–Almora, Soler, De La Rosa–are all said to have outstanding makeup.
They keep editing the players in the title. When I first posted it was only those 3 players listed.
For sure. It is Christmas morning and only the 1st few packages have been opened so to speak.
“IN the US at least we’re legit”
Now that’s funny.
18 of the top 20.
Brazilian lefthander Luiz Gohara can sign when he turns 16 on July 31, and Dominican shortstop Sergio Alcantara can sign when he turns 16 on July 10.
– BA
Dude, there is no need for that.
Pretty sure that’s common all over the world