International Free Agency Thread 2018-2019

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Cubs only have $683,500 available.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.mlb.com/news/victor-victor- ... -294590336

The Orioles have $6.5 million in bonus pool money to spend on international prospects, the most money in baseball. The Marlins are next, with $4.3 million, followed by the Rays at $3.6 million and the Dodgers at $2.78 million. The brothers are expected to participate in a showcase for all 30 teams, possibly this month or next.

Now that Victor Victor Mesa is eligible to sign, he moves to the top spot on MLB.com's Top 30 International Prospects list, primarily because of his strong track record. Victor Jr. is also considered an interesting prospect and could join his brother on the list after he is scouted and evaluated by teams and performs in a showcase setting.

[cubsandbears]

Something im sure Epstein interested in...

Both Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr have been declared FAs and are eligible to sign

[weis21]

Something im sure Epstein interested in...

Both Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr have been declared FAs and are eligible to sign

awesome!

[Regular Show]

Something im sure Epstein interested in...

Both Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr have been declared FAs and are eligible to sign

awesome!

Yeah, but we're not getting them unfortunately. I think Victor Victor Mesa has an agreement with Baltimore and I thought I read something about Victor Mesa Jr. having a deal in place.

Bummer.

[weis21]

i was just being sarcastic because raisin told us in both of the two posts before his

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Arizona Phil has a few other signings:

IF Ronny Simon, 18, Dominican Republic
RHP Gabriel Jaramillo, 19, Venezuela
Yonder Montero, RHP, 18, Dominican Republic

No bonus info.

[CubsWin]

Arizona Phil has a few other signings:

IF Ronny Simon, 18, Dominican Republic
RHP Gabriel Jaramillo, 19, Venezuela
Yonder Montero, RHP, 18, Dominican Republic

No bonus info.

Phil's announcement must have been a little late. Simon and Jaramillo we knew about. Both played in the DSL this summer, but Montero's new.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Mesas had their workout today: https://www.mlb.com/news/mesa-brothers- ... =151437456

Apparently Marc Anthony was there.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

In the Victor Victor and Gaston writeups, Fangraphs also had this:

As for what will be left over for the clubs that don’t land these Cubans, there’s some chatter among scouts that some clubs have deals with Mexican prospects who aren’t eligible to sign at the moment, as MLB has shut down the country to clubs for an unspecified period. If it doesn’t open before next July 2nd, then those clubs would have to find somewhere else to spend their pool money. We think they’d try to spread it around across several six-figure talents and that prospects in Asia may be targets.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/scoutin ... n-workout/

[Regular Show]

[Bear Cub]

Take that money away from the Cardinals for being cheaters.

[Regular Show]

Take that money away from the Cardinals for being cheaters.

Well, the Cardinals are still in the penalty phase for going over in previous years. They can't bid on the big name IFAs like the Mesa brothers during this signing period.

[Regular Show]

The Mesa brothers have signed with the Marlins.

Well, have fun reaching the big leagues, playing well and then getting traded once you reach arbitration/become too expensive.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Here are the terms:



The Orioles have about $6 million in IFA money that’s got little value now. Unless someone 17 or older blows up late or another Cuban shows up, Gaston is the only remaining top 30 prospect who could warrant 7 figures in this IFA structure.

[Tryptamine]

5M bonus for a guy most see as 4th OFer with an Almora comp as an upside. Not sure what the bidding war was all about.

[Regular Show]

5M bonus for a guy most see as 4th OFer with an Almora comp as an upside. Not sure what the bidding war was all about.

He could end up being better than that. I really like Victor Victor Mesa (older brother) and think he could reach the big leagues pretty fast.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

5M bonus for a guy most see as 4th OFer with an Almora comp as an upside. Not sure what the bidding war was all about.

Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen compared him to Almora, but that's not a universal opinion. Ben Badler disagreed with that and dropped a Victor Robles comp;

VVM (NY):

Good afternoon Ben. Victor Victor Mesa's October 5th showcase was very tight, not much information has flowed out. What can you tell us and do you feel some of the Almora comps being thrown around are too light, if so, care to throw out your own comp? Thanks!

Ben Badler: I wasn't at his Miami showcase (media was not allowed to go), but I've been watching him play since he was 17, and I'm told he pretty much looked the way I described him. I've never heard Albert Almora as a comp, don't know where that comes from, but that doesn't really fit. Victor Robles is a better comparison, from the speed, the defense, athleticism/explosion, the offensive profile, even the injury problems.

And they both rated him as the top IFA prospect this year, as did Jesse Sanchez at MLB.com.

[Regular Show]

Well, they certainly have interesting names in the Jimenez household.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

WTF are the Orioles going to do with their $6 million, some of which they traded for? I wonder if the Cubs can acquire some cap space on the cheap if they’ve found one of these late bloomers or someone in Asia (or even Mexico whenever that market opens up again).

[Regular Show]

https://twitter.com/mlbpipeline/status/1054731813908869122?s=21

WTF are the Orioles going to do with their $6 million, some of which they traded for? I wonder if the Cubs can acquire some cap space on the cheap if they’ve found one of these late bloomers or someone in Asia (or even Mexico whenever that market opens up again).

That's a good point. The Orioles worked hard to get that additional pool money. I agree there is no way they can spend it all now. Just trading it away might make them look really foolish, but they're at least getting some value back.

Yeah, even $1 mil can go really far for the Cubs if they can find some young talent in Mexico/Venezuela/DR. We had a good pipeline going in Mexico.

I'd be fine trading Duane Underwood or maybe even Dillon Maples for some additional IFA funds (only if our scouts feel like there is good talent still available/signable).

[davell]

The key to this, is getting Mexico put back in play before the next signing period. If it is, I doubt the Orioles have any semblance of an inroads yet down there.

[Regular Show]

FYI, they have Nico Hoerner rated about the same. He's basically like a 45+ FV and he'll probably be moved up to 50 FV pretty soon.