The Padres and 19-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Ona, who was recently declared a free agent by Major League Baseball, have agreed to a $7MM signing bonus, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). The Padres have long been considered the favorites to sign Ona, who will add yet another high-profile name to San Diego’s bounty of top-tier international talent in the 2016-17 international signing class.
Ona rated as the No. 8 international prospect on this year’s class, per Sanchez’s rankings at MLB.com. Sanchez wrote in his free scouting report that scouts are impressed by Ona’s ability to hit to all fields and his emerging power, noting that his batting practice sessions are a “sight to behold.” Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote back in February that San Diego was the favorite to sign Ona. Per Badler, the right-handed hitter has a compact swing with good bat speed, plus power and an above-average arm that makes him best suited for right field. Badler didn’t rank Ona on his Top 50 list of international free agents for the 2016-17 signing class, as Ona wasn’t a free agent when the signing period began on July 2. He did, however, praise Ona a great deal when profiling the top players that had yet to leave Cuba last April — Ona left the island later that summer — noting that Ona had “all the attributes to be a star right fielder.” While he’s a ways from the Majors, Badler’s February report suggested that Ona could join a Class-A affiliate if he signed this season.
Ona is the second high-profile Cuban talent to be declared a free agent after the July 2 market opened and quickly sign with the Padres. San Diego already added 17-year-old left-hander Adrian Morejon for a reported bonus of $11MM, and the club also shelled out more than $12MM in signings on July 2 when the signing period kicked off. All told, they appear to have spent $30MM+ on international free agents to this point, proving reports that they planned to shatter their allotted bonus pool to be accurate. They’ll pay a 100 percent luxury tax on any amount that exceeds their $3.348MM pool, meaning Ona’s signing effectively cost the club $14MM. The cumulative sum of their spending on international free agents is already near or in excess of $60MM and could continue to grow between now and the close of the 2016-17 signing period on June 15 of next year.
Love the aggressive approach via the IFA.
If Preller can find his own profar, mazara, odor out of the past 2 IFA periods itll be an exciting time come 2019, 2020. Took profar, mazara, odor around 4 years to be where they areat the mlb level.
Hope they pan out for the Padres, because those penalties are huge.
Eh, the penalties are just cash. This is exactly what they should be doing.
Any word on Vladimir Gutierez? Seems surprising that no one has signed him in the last year.
Linked to WSH and ATL
Red Sox did the same thing two years ago and yes the penalties are just cash. Also you are banned from future signings. However Padres have rebuilt their farm system fast with a boatload of prospects.
They aren’t banned. They are limited to $300k.
It’s pretty amazing that the Padres farm went from ranked 20th to start the year to ranked 2nd currently over at ESPN.
A lot of their current and soon to be future trades before the Aug 1st deadline will help pay for some of this too.
It makes me laugh. No one ever says anything about the money when it’s the Cubs, Dodgers, or Red Sox. However when it is the Padres, it a topic. I guess the farm system isn’t empty no more.
Seems pretty clear this was the plan from the moment AJ was hired and explains why the farm system was cleared out. The Kemp deal seems to be the only one that really doesn’t fit assuming everything else.
This guarantees nothing but it does increase the chances the farm system might produce for once. A happy Pades fan here.
Yea I agree. The international market is what Preller specializes in, so I’m glad to see how aggressive he was during this signing period, and the way the farm system has been improving. It’ll be interesting to see how the team begins to look over the next three to four years.
Honestly I feel like the Kemp deal was almost for the fans. Preller knew the Padres would give a quick shot in 2015 and tear it down after, So the fans were given a small taste of some big names so they didn’t totally abandon ship.
I do not think it justifies clearing out the farm system at all. Think what the Padres would have with both.
But what is done is done and their being aggressive in the IFA market is what they should be doing and they appear to be doing it and doing it well. These kind of things gets the arrow pointing up for the Padres and could be the start of building a solid young team
Which players in the old farm system that Preller cleared out have provided an impact on the team they were moved to?
Preller didn’t clear out the farm, but cleared out players he didn’t think highly of. We can say Joe Ross (solid but injured) and Trae Turner (potential, but still getting feet wet) are tough losses, but Wil Myers is slowly shifting that trade in the Padres favor.
Who else? I haven’t checked in the last month, but a month ago I saw a list of players Preller cleared from the farm and none of them screamed “Why did we trade them?”
Outside of Joe Ross and Trea Turner:
– Mallex Smith (a SH Travis Jankowski)
– Matt WIsler (still young, but nothing exciting yet)
– Jake Bauers (good prospect for TB, but let’s see if power develops)
And on the flipside, we retained our two highest prospects in the deals (Renfroe and Hedges) while upgrading the quality of our prospects:
– Anderson Espinoza (single-handedly overshadows Wisler and Ross)
– Javier Guerra (looking bad this year)
– Manuel Margot (likely our CF/leadoff hitter as early as next year)
– Carlos Asuaje (likely makes the majors next year with good bat)
– Logan Allen (doing well as a 19yo in A-ball)
– Hudson Potts (1st rd pick playing SS in rookie ball)
– Eric Lauer (1st round pick who led the nation in college ERA)
That’s just the results of the trades he’s made. Once you throw in the signings, he’s also stocked up 17yo Fernando Tatis and 18yo Chris Paddack (whose numbers are comically good as a 20yo).
AJ cleared out the prospects that the padres have historically gone for: solid but no real impact potential. When our farm system was well regarded a couple years ago it was based on the “overall depth” but it was noted that we didn’t have any prospects that with impact potential. AJ has since changed that.
The way AJ has gotten to the 2nd overall farm system stands in stark contrast to how the braves have gotten to #1. We have had a fun team to watch over the last year. Say what you will about how he “gutted” the farm, we got to see a year of kimbrel, j upton crush bombs for the home team, his brother revitalize his career, oh and this guy named Kemp HIT FOR THE CYLE. We got to see a interesting albiet unsuccessful product on the field for a year while still building a farm system that is now packed with legit young impact talent.
The braves traded everyone and just tanked. If I was a braves fan it would be depressing to see everyone shipped off and have a team with not even the illusion of competing.
The only prospect that I was really bummed to see go was Jake Bauers. The kid looked like he could rake. But now with myers I think I can get over that loss.
Not only that, but the Braves combined a salary dump with prospect grab. Hence, they got MUCH less for Kimbrel than the Padres did.
Preller is finally showing his chops as a GM. He has done an outstanding job this year in trades, the draft and now the international signing period. I would still take Myers instead of Ross and Turner. Go Padres! Let’s get something for Cashner and Norris now!
In the end, the earliest the Padres could realistically contend is 2019, Myers’ last year with the Padres. And shortstop is still a huge hole in the Padres organization that Turner would have fixed.
Why did ona get so much more than maitan when maitan was much more highly regarded?