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.
Yikes! I don’t know.
He’s 20, so I guess he still has some room to grow, but when I see 6-8 230 i was not expecting to see 93-97 fb, more like 98-100. This seems like an interesting signing.
“the 93-97 mph hour range.” don’t need hour.
Well, when you are 6’8″ you need double the hours.
“…i was not expecting to see..”
Your “i” should be capitalized. lol
Your ellipses is missing a . and your lol should be capitalized. Try harder.
Someone is using their Bluebook. Very nice.
I just have to give you props for that awesome law school reference.
Height doesn’t always equal velocity. Chris Young is 6’10” and his highest average fastball velocity was 90.3 mph in 2007 (earliest year on file). For him, it’s been his high release point that allowed him to have an effective fastball in the upper 80s.
Well aware of this, but when you see these taller amateurs getting money like this they are often featuring high velocity fastballs.
Taller pitchers tend to have a higher perceived velocity as well, due to their release being closer to the batter.
He’s 20. I’m sure he could add a couple more MPH to his fastball as he develops. I’m guessing there isn’t much in the way of control (17 K’s to 17 BB’s). 93-97 will play in the MLB if the control comes along.
The 93-97 was in games in workouts back in April after having to take nearly 2 years off of baseball while defecting from Cuba and establishing residency. In more recent workouts for teams in November, Ben Badler said he topped out in triple digits and seemed to have put on 20-30 lbs. If he sits mid 90s as a starter, that still plays in the majors. Now to help him gain control of all that velocity.
Darren Balsley is just what he needs!
Hate to troll, but he was sitting 97-98 last night…sorry for the late comment :P
We’re hitting the final stages of Funny Money Town.
With the new CBA do teams that go past the international pool allowed to make signings? I’d heard they can’t.
In July, teams won’t be able to add a contract beyond their limit. It isn’t July yet, though.
Really? It’s not July? Thanks for the enlightenment. I would have never known.
Rather than being a smart ass you could thank him for providing you with the answer to your question.
REALLY you didnt know that the 2016 internatonal signing period lasts a whole year??????? And REALLY you didnt know that the new CBA doesnt immediately take effect as we are still under old cba rules ???????
I asked a question and he needed to be sanctimonious and tell me it’s not July yet. I’m the smart ass? Kids these days need a life. Participation trophies for all.
I knew all that. I asked what the new rules would be, I had heard an wasn’t for sure. Now what does you comment have to with that?
Yes. You are the smart ass. And what does a participation trophy have to do with anything here. He was telling you that come July is when it changes. Don’t have to get all butt hurt over something like that.
You seem to be the one button hurt. Even that term shows your age. I asked if the new CBA rules were as I heard. My simple question did not garner the ass hole remark of its not July yet. But I’m done. I won’t waste more time on brats.
*butt not button. Auto correct
The lack of information on Baez is not to suggest that he’s lacking in any sort of appreciable talent.
Well, how do you miss someone that is 6’8″?
Does he pitch like darren o day or byung hyun kim?
He ate all my cereal.
Why not?
Sign every schmuck you can and pay the penalties. But, get your system stocked before the new rules come into place.
Smart move.
Here are a couple of scouting videos of Baez:
youtube.com/watch?v=jLBZJT1U4hg
youtube.com/watch?v=Kocxulj14n4
Is it just me or does it seem like every baseball player in Cuba has just signed in the MLB in the past few months? Anybody left? Any talent?
“The Padres have the worst front office in baseball.”
Why because they signed someone who is 20 years old, 6’8″ & can throw 97 MPH for 6 million dollars? What else are they supposed to spend money on right now? Those are the signings that make sense right now, more young prospects to add to the pool for when the team expects to compete again.
Would you rather have blown that 6 million on washed up bums like Jake Peavy or Jared Weaver or Tim Lincecum? I commend the Padres for weathering the storm & sticking with the plan to rebuild the right way, they are getting slack from fans who are tired of always being a “Farm Team” & never spending any money because the owners are greedy or don’t care.
This group is making more of an effort than any other Padre ownership group to finally get it right. It’s going to be a rough few years but at the end of this many die hard fans will be happy they waited to see it all come together.
Lol apparently youve never heard of the angles owner LOL.
Don’t be obtuse.
LOLOL. Fantastic. Good stuff.
+1. Moreno is bad. Angelos is not far behind.
Jeez, so many people on this site have been so snippy lately. Even in this article (a random Padres international signing) some of the posts make me shake my head.
Maybe it’s all the negative fallout from the the winter meetings coverage on here. That three-way debate/soap opera comments section from the Adam Eaton trade was a perfect example.
I think this is a pretty good signing. He only pitched one season in Series Nacional at 18 years old back in 2014, but had a rough time walking as many as he struck out. He has missed 2 seasons of baseball since then and was throwing 93-97 back in April for workouts with teams and Ben Badler said he topped out at 101 in recent workouts for teams. A kid like that seems like the perfect project for a team like the Padres that won’t contend until 2019 or 2020.