Mike Trout isn’t the only baseball talent in his family, as Grantland’s Ben Lindbergh details in a piece about the Angels superstar’s father. Jeff Trout was a Twins fifth-round draft pick in 1983 and he put up an impressive .303/.382/.425 slash line in 1575 career minor league at-bats, with three of his four seasons coming at the Double-A level. The elder Trout chose to retire early, however, partially due to injuries and partially out of some frustration that his career was stalling in the minors. Here’s some more from around baseball…
- Cuban outfielder Eddy Julio Martinez could sign with a team as early as next week, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (Twitter links). The 20-year-old was seen by scouts and executives from 17 teams during a workout in the Dominican Republic today. He boasts a 6.4 second time in the 60-yard dash and has two years of experience in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, including hitting .229/.333/.324 over 133 PA as an 18-year-old in 2013. Martinez is subject to international pool guidelines, and if he does sign during what’s left of the 2014-15 signing period, it will mean the Cubs and Rangers (due to penalties) won’t be able to land him unless he accepts a bonus of $300K or less. If Martinez doesn’t sign until after the 2015-16 period opens on July 2, the Angels, Rays, Red Sox, Yankees and Diamondbacks will be under those penalties.
- Huston Street “might have gotten the best deal he could get,” Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times opines about the closer’s two-year, $18MM extension with the Angels. Shaikin thinks that Street might not have found such a generous deal in free agency given how several teams are becoming more likely to rely on cheap power arms in the ninth inning rather than spend big on veteran closers. An injury also could’ve hurt Street’s value, which is a significant concern given that he’s spent a notable amount of time on the DL in his career.
- Ben Revere is no stranger to trade rumors, though the Phillies outfielder is trying to focus on playing rather than speculation that he could be dealt, Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News writes. “I know it’s a business. I know we need some guys to help this program out, this organization out,” Revere said. “If I do [get traded], it’s a part of the game. But the only thing I’m trying to do is help the team win. I’m not worrying about it. If it does happen, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’m going to try to bring some W’s to this team.”
just wonder if a guy who hit .229 has a career in mlb.
You forgot a key part of that sentence, hit .229 as an 18-YEAR-OLD.
Robinson Cano hit .230/.330/.365 as an 18 year old in rookie ball and he turned out just fine in the end.
It can be a huge adjustment to go from a Latin American summer league one season to being sent to cold April games in the Midwest League the next… Thats for sure
The international draft pool is interesting. I see no need for an international draft and don’t know how that’s practical
Some make the claim that it is unfair to domestic players that are subject to the June draft. But, the truth is that it likely boosts some of these players signing bonuses not being in direct competition with the global player market. In a true single global draft many of these domestic players would be pushed down the board and away from a higher slot. Of course, the case can be made that the true international draft would be flushed with more cash..essentially making the bonuses for the top rounds the equivalent to what maybe the top few picks get today.
International free agency works if it’s regulated. If it is allowed to just be the tool of large market teams, we’re no better off than before the amatuer draft was instituted and the Yankees out spent everyone for talent in the states.
The more I think about it…the more I believe if I were a projected top round pick the more I’d want an international draft. It would force baseball to monetarily decide the difference between say myself and a Jose Abreau. That’s almost a guarantee to boost my signing bonus….if Abeau is worth 50m…then what is that domestic player worth? $15m
Of course the whole issue of age and signability comes into play. For awhile Cuba will flood the market with MLB ready players.
An international draft would devastate international leagues. They’d go the way of the negro leagues. But, wow…talk about risk? Taking a foreign player high and then not being able to sign him..
How’s about true international free agency with a evolving cap on spending? Give the players a choice, yet not allow teams like the Dodgers and Yankees to let other teams do their scouting for them and then just poach with a truck load of cash.