In addition to the news on a pair of Korean southpaws, the Angels made major international news earlier today by reportedly agreeing to an $8MM signing bonus with 20-year-old Cuban infielder Roberto Baldoquin. That signing will prevent the Angels from signing any player from the next two international signing periods for more than $300K and will also require them to pay a 100 tax on each dollar spent over their $2.383MM international bonus pool.
Here are some more international notes from around the league…
- Ben Badler of Baseball America has updates on his Top 10 Cuban prospects (which will eventually be re-ranked with second basemen Jose Fernandez, Hector Olivera and Andy Ibanez leaving the island). Badler notes that top stars Yulieski Gourriel and Alfredo Despaigne have reinforced their status as the most talented players in the league by dominating this past season in Nippon Professional Baseball. He also discusses right-hander Norge Ruiz’s recovery from a rough first outing and an injury to well-regarded righty Vladimir Garcia.
- Japanese infielder Takashi Toritani is expected to attempt to jump to Major League Baseball this season, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post within his Top 10 Free Agent predictions. (Toritani doesn’t rank among Sherman’s Top 10.) The 33-year-old shortstop is perceived as a slick fielder, though his .285/.371/.412 batting line offers a bit of upside as well.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that Cuban free agent Yasmany Hernandez will be reported by Charles Hairston (the cousin of big leaguers Jerry Hairston and Scott Hairston). Hairston works with the agency Culture 39.
Despaigne started out slow, then took off. He would have no problem in US either, just like Abreu.