JUNE 10:Â 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.
Why? They got Scooter Gennett manning one middle infield position for the next 10 year
He did everything but hit the Toyota sign tonight.
Uh, no. Hoping that was sarcasm. Scooter’s obviously not a long term solution.
However, with all the infield prospects (Senzel, Alfredo Rodriguez, Blandino, Herrera, etc.) and current, young major league infielders that could be long term pieces (Suárez and Peraza), they seem set already. This signing doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, unless they are just planning on stockpiling and trading some of these players in the future.
I thought I read somewhere that Senzel could play corner outfield too. The guys who seem destined to drop off some is Suarez and Gennett. This is also assuming Cozart gets traded for a MLB ready starting pitcher.
Some thing 3b Nick Senzel could handle 2b, but the Reds have made no effort to try him there. He could probably handle the outfield corners, but moving him there hasn’t even been mentioned, let alone seriously considered.
Gennett is a utility player, despite his great game on Tuesday.
Suarez has now played SS and 3b extensively, and could probably handle any other position, including 2b. And I think he’s generally pretty underrated as a hitter, perhaps in part due to his height (5’11).
It’s nice to have depth, but it’ll be many years before we might see Jose Israel Garcia. I think Suarez is burning his 3rd year of service time, and would be a free agent by the time Garcia is 23?
People don’t judge or rate players based on their height. Have you ever heard of Jose Altuve? One of the best players in the game and also one of the smallest.
Schebler is coming along quite well hitting lefties. Here’s the two questions I have and there’s doesn’t need to be answer right now but it is something to ponder. Who is going to be Votto’s replacement? What do we do with our catching situation? We can’t carry 2 on a 4-man bench if neither of them play position.
***another
“Listed” at like 5’5″
Votto has a while before that becomes a thought, but if you haven’t heard Gavin Lavalley is the next man in like at first. Down in high A mashing homeruns.
This kid is 19, so he’s years away from the majors. It’s best to have lots of talent at every level of the minors so that there’s an uninterrupted flow of players to the major league roster. This kid adds that talent to the lowest level of the minors. The IF prospects you mentioned are all at the highest level of the minors or in the majors. With this depth, the Reds might be able to make trades from a position of depth, withstand an injury better, or have another option if one of the older prospects doesn’t pan out. There’s no such thing as having too much talent.
Which is what you do.
Add talent. Always.
Let them sort themselves out.
If Scooter had a glove, but he is probably destined to be a nice bench player. It can be difficult to find nice Lefty bats off the bench.
Because too much is never enough. Specially in sports where injuries can occour.
also because baseball is the sport where it can take the longest for prospects to shake out. Passing on a 1B because you have a 1B hitting well in his early 30s is silly. It may take 5 years before that 1B you drafted is mashing at AAA (if you’re so lucky) and by then Votto may be on his last wheels, we just don’t know.
I would hope Reds take best upside talent and if that is Greene or McKay or anyone else, then do it.
I can’t see a scenario the Reds don’t take either Greene or McKay in this draft. I wish a stud hitter was there, but this draft just does not have one (and Minnesota would probably take him if he did exist).
Angels trade Yunel Escobar to the Brewers for Josh Hader, anyone agree this is a good trade? Or maybe even Yunel to the Cardinals for Sandy Alcantara?
Disagree big time. I’m guessing you’re an Angels fan. Escobar is hitting at just above the league average and has been below average defensively. Also, he’s 34 year old and is a free agent at the end of the year. Best case scenario is a raw B prospect or a couple C prospects.
Don’t see a fit for Yunel on the Cardinals. They already have a similar player, Peralta, that they can’t find at-bats for.
Lol the brewers would hang up as fast as u can say Hader
The first post is just stupid “why”? Really dude? “Why” is because you can NEVER have too much talent. Kid is 19 or whatever in Cuban years and in 2-4 years we need lots of good players. Either for Cinci or for someone else to give back something of need. “Why”… wow, go watch hockey because don’t know baseball at all
You could also not just throw away 5 million dollars. I like the idea of getting talent, but you are better off signing maybe 10 guys for 100k who are raw and see if they pan out.
Good god man how could you not see the sarcasm in that post. I said it after his 4 homer game and was obviously joking. Do you seriously think scooter Gennett, recent waiver claim pickup, is blocking anybody?
I saw the sarcasm. Folks are losing the ability to discern or even look for sarcasm, they take everything literally these days.
I know for a fact the earth is flat. This round conspiracy is completely false.
Let the nasty replies begin….lol