Dec. 6: The Royals have also agreed to a deal with former Braves prospect Juan Carlos Negret, Sanchez reports (via Twitter). The Cuban-born 18-year-old hit .264/.401/.391 with a pair of homers and 23 steals (in 32 attempts) across 217 plate appearances and 50 games in the Dominican Summer League this past season.
Dec. 5: The Royals have agreed to sign right-hander Yefri Del Rosario for a $650K signing bonus, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter). The 18-year-old Rosario had originally signed for a $1MM bonus with Atlanta but was one of the dozen prospects whom commissioner Rob Manfred declared a free agent following the league’s investigation into the Braves’ misdealings on the international prospect front.
Del Rosario made his professional debut in 2017 when he tossed a combined 37 1/3 innings between the Braves’ Rookie-level affiliates in the Dominican Summer League and the Gulf Coast League. In that time, he posted a 3.62 ERA with a 36-to-14 K/BB ratio. Prior to DelRosario’s signing, Baseball America’s Ben Badler noted that he had already run his fastball up to 94 mph and featured a breaking pitch that at times looked like a plus offering while also noting that there were some concerns that Del Rosario’s mechanics and smaller stature would eventually lead to a future as a reliever. More recently, ESPN’s Keith Law called Del Rosario the “most intriguing” pitcher the Braves lost in the scandal, praising his athleticism and arm speed.
The Royals are still in the “penalty box” for vastly exceeding their international pool in the 2015-16 signing period, meaning they’re barred from signing any player on the 2017-18 class for more than $300K. However, as pertains to the Braves prospects that were recently dubbed free agents by Manfred, teams can reportedly dip into next year’s signing pool in order to ink them. That, it seems, is the route the Royals are taking here. Notably, today marks the first day that those former Atlanta prospects can officially sign with new organizations. They’re eligible to sign for a new bonus with any team other than the Braves between now and Jan. 15, after which they’ll still be eligible to sign but ineligible to receive an additional bonus.
Hello Klentak … You awake bro? Time to sign those Braves INT prospects. Please
Don’t pretend like
You have a chance at O from Japan
Seeing as how the Phillies aren’t one of the 7 teams meeting with Ohtani, I don’t think Klentak thinks they have a shot. Your bigger worry should be that Klentak gets GM advice from the MLB Trade Rumors comments section…
This kid wouldnt have signed in Philly anyway. He specifically signed w/ KC as Yordano Ventura was an inspiration of his (RIP).
I would think all those former Braves prospects will be signed by the end of the week. GMs have nothing else to do while waiting for the Stanton & Ohtani sagas to play out.
Seems like a solid pickup
“… there were some concerns that Del Rosario’s mechanics and smaller stature would eventually lead to a future as a reliever.”
The kid is listed at 6’2″, 180 lbs. Sure, you could put two of him in Jonathan Broxton’s pants, but that’s a “smaller stature”?
If you’re 6’0” or more and not at least 200 lbs by the time you are an adult (18) you should be ashamed as a man.
Yeah, Steph Curry is pretty ashamed because he’s 6’3” and 190 lbs. He’s deeply ashamed.
He’s 6’2 & 180 but he’s only 18 years old. I’m pretty sure he will add to his frame by the time he debuts in the big leagues
Good luck to him in the Royals organization.
If we just be positive about it, maybe it’ll hurt less, right?
I figured that any kid that I’ve ever met in real life I would wish them success in their chosen profession. Why should I be different here? Certainly I don’t hold the belief that these kids should be penalized for adults’ mistakes.
I wish all these guys well, but I know it’s going to hurt if any of them turn out to be superstars.
The way I see it none of these kids are stars now. They need development. Where they end up they will receive different development than they would have in ATL. So even if one ends up a star it’s difficult to say their path would have been the same if we had held on to them.
Granted everyone will ignore this fact and mock ATL if they do end up a star, so there’s that…
Whoop-d-doo Basil