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Reds Sign Cuban Shortstop Jose Israel Garcia

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JUNE 10: The deal has been cleared by the league and is now official, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets.

JUNE 8: The Reds and Garcia have a deal, per FanRag’s Jon Heyman, who confirms it’s for $5MM (Twitter link).

JUNE 7: There’s no official deal in place just yet, tweets C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer, but the Reds are close. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez tweets that there’s an agreement in place, but nothing official yet due to the fact that Garcia still needs to pass a physical. Sanchez pegs the bonus at precisely $5MM and says it could become official on Thursday.

JUNE 6: The Reds have agreed to a contract with 19-year-old shortstop Jose Israel Garcia, reports Baseball America’s Ben Badler. The Cuban native, who is subject to international bonus pools due to both his age and lack of professional experience, will receive a bonus of roughly $5MM on his minor league deal, according to Badler. Because the Reds have already vastly exceeded their league-allotted international signing pool, they’ll pay a 100 percent luxury tax on the signing, meaning the addition of Garcia to their improving farm system will cost them somewhere in the vicinity of $10MM.

Badler provides a fairly lengthy scouting report on Garcia that Reds fans will want to check out. Listed at 6’3″ and 170 pounds, Garcia has room to add another 20 or so pounds to his frame and will moving from second base to shortstop in pro ball, per Badler’s piece, though there are questions about his ability to stick at the position. He has the arm for third base but perhaps not the power to profile at the position, as Badler notes that he’s more of a gap hitter whose power ceiling currently projects around 10 to 15 homers per year with plus speed on the bases. Garcia has also been tied to both Houston and San Diego since being declared a free agent.

The Reds have already inked right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez and shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez as their two largest international signings of the 2016-17 period, though like the Astros earlier today, they managed to pull off at least one more significant add before the closing of the current signing period on June 15. At that point, there’ll be a roughly two-week dead period where international prospects are ineligible to sign before the 2017-18 signing period kicks off on July 2. As part of their penalty for shattering their bonus pool, Cincinnati will be barred from signing any international free agent for greater than $300K in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 signing periods.

Cardinals Sign Cuban RHP Hector Mendoza

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11:58am: MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (via Twitter) that it’s a minor league deal for Mendoza, who will receive a $500K signing bonus. As previously noted, that doesn’t come with a luxury tax since Mendoza is exempt from bonus pools, making his addition is a relatively low-cost pick up for St. Louis.

9:37am: The Cardinals announced that they’ve agreed to terms with 23-year-old right-hander Hector Mendoza. The Cuban native, who is being represented by Wasserman, was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball back in January and is reportedly exempt from international bonus pools. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though his exemption means that the Cards were free to sign him to a Major League contract.

Though Mendoza falls shy of the requisite five years of pro experience in Cuba that MLB requires for bonus pool exemption, El Nuevo Herald’s Jorge Ebro reported in January that the league determined that Mendoza can be considered a professional rather than an amateur due to brief stints in Japan across parts of two separate seasons (combined with his four years in Cuba).

Baseball America’s Ben Badler connected the Cardinals to Mendoza over the weekend (subscription required and strongly recommended), noting that while he once was one of the more promising young arms on Cuba, he’s struggled Japan and had durability issues in Cuba. Per Badler, Mendoza has a three-pitch starter’s repertoire, including a 94 mph fastball, when he’s at his best. However, scouts who’ve seen him recently offer mixed reports and peg him as a potential reliever. Badler suggests that he’s currently ready to pitch at Class-A Advanced or Double-A. That could conceivably make him an option for the Redbirds later this season, depending on how quickly he’s able to join a minor league affiliate and how he fares once he returns to competitive ball.

In parts of six professional seasons between the Cuban National Series and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Mendoza has a 2.95 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9. Control issues seem to have always been a problem for the righty, based on his yearly walk rates, but he’s also consistently managed to post solid ERAs and did have a successful run as the closer for Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud in the 2013-14 campaign.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/19/17

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the game…

  • The Brewers announced before this afternoon’s game that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Paolo Espino from Triple-A Colorado Springs and optioned left Brent Suter to Triple-A. The 30-year-old Espino is making his Major League debut today against the Cubs after spending parts of 11 seasons in the minors. This year in a tough Colorado Springs environment, he’s pitched to a 2.54 ERA with a 40-to-5 K/BB ratio through 39 innings. Espino has a career 3.54 ERA with 7.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in 465 2/3 Triple-A innings.

Earlier Moves

  • The Marlins have announced that infielder Steve Lombardozzi cleared waivers and was sent outright to their Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans. The veteran could have rejected the outright assignment in favor of free agency but accepted and will continue on in New Orleans in hopes of earning another big league look. The  28-year-old Lombardozzi appeared in just two games with the Marlins and went hitless in eight at-bats. He’s a career .260/.292/.333 hitter in parts of six Major League seasons (this year included).
  • MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports that the Brewers are wrapping up a deal with 17-year-old international free agent Ernesto Martinez Jr. (Twitter links). A first baseman/outfielder out of Cuba, Martinez will receive a fairly sizable $925K bonus when the deal is complete. Sanchez notes that Martinez Jr. is a left-handed hitter and thrower that is also capable of pitching. As MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy points out (also via Twitter), that bonus will be almost entirely covered by the $885K slot that the Brewers received when trading right-hander Damien Magnifico to the Orioles.

Padres Sign Cuban Lefty Osvaldo Hernandez

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THURSDAY: San Diego has announced the deal.

MONDAY: The Padres are in agreement on a deal with Cuban left-hander Osvaldo Hernandez, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (via Twitter). The 18-year-old southpaw, who was declared a free agent last month, will receive a $2.5MM signing bonus. Because the Padres have shattered their league-issues international spending allotment already, Hernandez will come with a 100 percent luxury tax, meaning he’ll effectively cost the Friars a total of $5MM.

Hernandez hasn’t been included on lists of top international prospects from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB.com, etc., making information on him somewhat scarce. BA’s Ben Badler wrote up a couple of paragraphs of scouting info on Hernandez following today’s deal, writing that Hernandez has an 89-94 mph fastball to go along with a tight-spinning curve that could eventually be a plus offering and a slider that could eventually be above-average as well. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reported when Hernandez was declared a free agent that in addition to the Padres, the Reds, Astros, Mets, Braves, Rangers and Red Sox had varying levels of interest in the young southpaw.

The Padres have been baseball’s most active team on the international front during the current signing period, and Monday’s agreement serves as a reminder that the team could continue to add further international talent in the three months between now and the current signing period’s June 15 closing date. Among the Padres’ top international commitments this winter have been Cuban left-hander Adrian Morejon ($11MM), Cuban outfielder Jorge Ona ($7MM), Dominican shortstop Luis Almanzar ($4MM) and Cuban right-hander Michel Baez ($3MM). San Diego opened the international signing period on July 2 with fireworks, agreeing to terms with 10 highly touted prospects that day alone (headlined by Almanzar). Since that time general manager A.J. Preller and his staff have continued to aggressively supplement the team’s minor league system on the international market.

The Padres entered the current signing period with a bonus pool of $3.347MM, but they’ve exceeded that mark by well north of $30MM at this point and, subsequently, been taxed at a 100 percent rate for every dollar over that allotment. By my count, from the bonuses we’ve tracked at MLBTR, the Padres have exceeded their pool by at least $34.833MM, though the size some of their smaller-scale signings (which could be worth a few hundred thousand dollars) went unreported. Those numbers, though incomplete, put the Friars at just over $73MM worth of total expenditures on the international front, though the true number could very well exceed $75MM and approach $80MM in total.

Athletics Sign Cuban Right-Hander Norge Ruiz

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The Athletics announced on Friday that they’ve signed international free agent Norge Ruiz to a minor league contract. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (on Twitter) that Ruiz will receive a $2MM signing bonus. The 22-year-old Cuban right-hander has long been considered one of the more appealing arms in Cuba. Ruiz is subject to international spending limitations due to his age, so he’ll count against Oakland’s bonus pool.

Ruiz’s numbers in three professional seasons in the Cuban National Series are impressive, as he worked to a collective 2.55 ERA in 374 1/3 innings. He averaged just six strikeouts against 3.1 walks per nine innings pitched in that time, though scouting reports on Ruiz indicate that he has the potential to make a significant impact on Oakland’s farm system.

Sanchez ranks Ruiz as the No. 3 prospect on this winter’s international market, and while he didn’t make Baseball America’s list of top international prospects this summer, that was due to the fact that he’d yet to technically be cleared as a free agent. (Ruiz was declared a free agent by MLB back in early September.) Per Sanchez’s above-linked report, Ruiz has a fastball that reaches 94 mph and has plenty of movement on it, and he’s also worked with a slider, changeup, cutter and splitter that are deployed from various arm angles.

BA’s Ben Badler writes today that Ruiz’s changeup a plus pitch and also writes that his slider can flash above-average at times as well. He generates plenty of ground-balls, though there’s some belief that his size could lead to durability issues. Ruiz is listed at 6’0″ and 185 pounds, and that slight frame has led to some skepticism from scouts, though it seems likely that he’ll be given every opportunity to develop as a starting pitcher in the Athletics organization. Ruiz will add an intriguing arm to the upper levels of the Athletics’ system and could conceivably be an option in 2018, if not 2017, depending on how quickly he shakes off the rust as he settles back into game settings and on how quickly he adjusts to facing more advanced competition.

Padres Agree To Deal With Right-Hander Michel Baez

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The Padres have agreed to sign 20-year-old Cuban right-hander Michel Baez and will pay him a $3MM signing bonus, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter). Because the Padres are already over their allotted international bonus pool, Baez will come with a 100 percent luxury tax and cost the team a total of $6MM.

Sanchez lists Baez as 6’8″ and 230 pounds, noting that he has a fastball which sits in the 93-97 mph range. Baez comes without much in the way of publicly available information, as he didn’t rate in MLB.com’s list of top 30 international prospects, nor did he appear among the 47 international prospects that were listed on Fangraphs’ sortable scouting board. Baseball America’s Ben Badler ranked 50 players when listing his top international prospects this year — though he didn’t list Cuban players that had not yet been declared for free agency — and didn’t mention Baez’s name, either. Per Baseball-Reference, Baez pitched in part of just one pro season in Cuba — the 2014-15 season — and posted a 5.22 ERA with 17 strikeouts against 17 walks as an 18-year-old. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets that he could start next season in A-ball and is a former teammate of fellow Padres signee Ronald Bolanos.

The lack of information on Baez is not to suggest that he’s lacking in any sort of appreciable talent. Players often fly under the radar and come with unexpectedly large signing bonuses when they do. A player of Baez’s age with that sort of frame and velocity certainly sounds appealing on the surface, though a great deal of additional context would be required before fairly assessing him. Regardless, Padres scouts are clearly enticed by Baez’s abilities, and the sum of the bonus itself seemingly indicates that San Diego faced some degree of competition for his services.

Astros Agree To New Deal With Cuban Lefty Cionel Perez

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The Astros and young Cuban left-hander Cionel Perez have agreed to a new deal that comes with a $2MM signing bonus, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). Houston and Perez had originally agreed to a $5.15MM signing bonus back in September, but in October it was reported by Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and ESPN’s Keith Law that the deal had been voided for medical reasons. The precise medical problem that derailed the first deal remains unclear.

The new arrangement comes with less financial risk for Astros, who in addition to the bonus figure are also on the hook for a 100 percent luxury tax due to the fact that they’d already exceeded their 2016-17 international bonus pool. As such, Perez drops from a $10.3MM total expenditure to a $4MM total expenditure for the Astros, who clearly are intrigued by Perez’s talent despite some apparent physical red flags.

Perez, 21 next April, ranks fourth on Sanchez’s list of top 30 international prospects at MLB.com. He’s undersized, though Sanchez notes that he still has room to add to his 5’11”, 170-pound frame. Perez already features a fastball in the 92-95mph range, and that velocity could tick upward a bit as he continues to grow. Perez also shows good feel for a slider and changeup, Sanchez continues. Longenhagen offered similarly high praise for Perez at Fangraphs, rating him seventh among international prospects. While Longenhagen’s report is down a bit more on Perez’s slider, he also notes that Perez flashes a potentially plus curveball. At the time of Perez’s original signing, Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote that the changeup was a fairly new pitch for Perez, who has only added it since leaving Cuba. His slider has improved since leaving Cuba as well, Badler notes.

Perez spent just two seasons playing in the Cuban National Series, logging a 2.20 ERA while pitching as a professional at ages 17 and 18. He totaled 139 innings with 100 strikeouts against 61 walks, although 13 of those free passes were issued intentionally. Perez should be ticketed for the lower levels of the minor leagues to begin his pro career in the United States.

Rangers To Sign Yanio Perez

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The Rangers have agreed to terms with Cuban third baseman Yanio Perez, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald. Perez, who rates 13th on Jesse Sanchez’s top 30 international prospect rankings at MLB.com, will receive a $1.1MM signing bonus.

The 21-year-old Perez was cleared to sign on May 20 and receives plus grades for his raw power, per Sanchez, though some scouts have questioned his athleticism and ability to stick at third base. He’s said to have a good makeup by scouts, according to Sanchez, and is also an above-average runner. Baseball America’s Ben Badler has a full scouting report up on Perez, noting that he was once a 45-grade runner (on the 20-80 scale) but is now up to roughly 70 speed once underway, based on his 60-yard dash time. Badler, too, spoke to some scouts who graded Perez’s power well, though he heard above-average as opposed to the more impressive 65 grade used by Sanchez in his report. Perez hasn’t played in Cuba’s top league since the 2014-15 season and was just a career .259/.335/.328 hitter in Serie Nacional, though those stats came in his age 18-19 seasons. Perez is now listed at 6’2″ and 205 pounds, so it seems reasonable to believe that he’s filled out a bit since his last bit of pro experience in Cuba. Badler writes that he could begin next season at the Class-A level.

While Texas has taken an aggressive approach to the international market in seasons past, they’ve been more measured thus far in 2016. Perez’s bonus is the largest they’ve issued, with the next-biggest bonus going to Venezuelan catcher David Garcia, who received an $800K signing bonus in early July, per Sanchez. Even with this notable signing on the books, the Rangers haven’t cleared their allotted pool, so they’re not facing any type of long-term penalization.

Astros To Sign Cuban Left-Hander Cionel Perez

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The Astros have agreed to sign left-handed pitching prospect Cionel Perez for a $5.15MM signing bonus, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). The 20-year-old Perez, a client of Octagon according to Sanchez, was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball just last week after having left Cuba back in May of 2015. Due to his age and limited professional experience, Perez qualifies as an international amateur, meaning he is subject to international bonus pools. The Astros are already over their $2.197MM pool allotment, so the signing of Perez will come with a 100 percent luxury tax, thus making this a $10.3MM expenditure for Houston.

Perez currently rates fourth on Sanchez’s list of top 30 international prospects at MLB.com. Perez currently has a fastball that sits 92-95 mph, per Sanchez, though there’s room to add to his growing frame still, so some scouts feel the velocity will tick up another couple of miles per hour. Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote back in December that Perez had shown some improvements with his once-fringe breaking pitch, which at the time was flashing the potential to be an average or better offering. He’s also added a changeup that he’s still working on since leaving Cuba.

Per Sanchez’s report, the Astros were joined by the Orioles, Padres and Reds in their pursuit of Perez, but it’ll be Houston who adds the intriguing young arm to its farm system. The aforementioned report from Badler noted that Perez could be ready for Low-A ball, but it’s of course possible that he begins his pro career in the United States a level higher now that he’s a year older — especially if he puts in some work over the winter. Perez appeared in just two seasons in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, logging 139 innings with a 2.20 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in his age-17 and age-18 seasons.

Reds Sign Cuban Right-Hander Vladimir Gutierrez

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SEPTEMBER 7: The signing is now official, per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter).

AUGUST 30: The Reds have agreed to sign highly regarded right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez for a bonus of $4.75MM, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (via Twitter). The 20-year-old Cuban righty will count against Cincinnati’s international bonus pool, which they’ve already vastly exceeded with their $7MM deal with Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez. As such, Gutierrez will come with a 100 percent luxury tax, effectively making this a $9.5MM expenditure for the Reds.

At last check, earlier this month, Gutierrez’s camp was weighing a number of options, including pitching in Japan and waiting until next year’s international signing period to embark on his minor league career. However, he’ll now add a well-regarded arm to a rebuilding Reds system, joining countryman and defensive standout Rodriguez as a co-headliner of Cincinnati’s international signings this period.

Gutierrez was initially cleared as a free agent last summer, but some lackluster showings in front of big league scouts caused his stock to dip over the winter. That, however, changed at a mid-March showcase, per Baseball America’s Ben Badler, when Gutierrez’s strong showing restored a good deal of his prospect status. Badler has since written that Gutierrez’s heater checks in at 92-94 mph and pairs nicely with a “hammer” curve around 80 mph, though he needs further refinement in terms of fastball command and a third pitch. Following that up, Badler tweeted just today that Gutierrez has recently been up to 97 mph with his fastball while also showing a plus curve. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez rated Gutierrez fourth behind Kevin Maitan, Adrian Morejon and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on his ranking of the 2016-17 international free agents, noting that while he projects as a starting pitcher, some scouts also believe he could have a quicker timeline to the Majors and make an impact as a high-leverage late-inning reliever as well.

Cincinnati, of course, has had its share of success in dipping into the Cuban market for high-upside arms, enjoying success with the likes of Aroldis Chapman and Raisel Iglesias. However, both Chapman and Iglesias signed at a considerably later stage in their careers. Gutierrez will have a lengthier path to the Majors and will be subject to the standard pre-arbitration pay scale and six full seasons of control for the Reds upon reaching the big leagues. His numbers in a brief Serie Nacional career in Cuba were solid, albeit not overwhelming; in 118 1/3 innings, Gutierrez logged a 3.27 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9. Of course, he’s come quite a ways in his development since that time, as his last work in Cuba’s top league came when he was still just 18 years of age.

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