Today is the first day of the 2009 DSL season. The Phillies play in the Santo Domingo North division. Last year they finished 6.5 games behind the Mariners in second place with a 35-30 record. It is a strange 5-team division with 2 affiliates from the A’s. This leads to lots of off days and also uncertain competition. The second A’s team is usually mediocre, so the quality of competition varies considerably and can be hard to judge.
The initial roster is on the minor league site and is listed below with newer players in bold. There are still a number of holdovers with the newer players listed in bold. There are undoubtedly changes to come with these rosters as a number of the players in Spring Training who appeared slated for GCL are still listed here. Those players include Alvaro Bacil, Juan Sosa, and Jonathan Villan. Only one new pitcher is listed here, so most likely we will see others show up on the roster in the coming weeks. A total of 8 new players are listed with 7 of those players being position players.
Domingo Santana is listed, however, and is probably the player with the highest expectations given his $330K signing bonus earlier this year. He is the most expensive Phillies Latin American signing since Edgar Garcia a few years ago, though the team has intimated that they will be active in the market this year without a number one pick in the draft. The International signing window opens July 2nd.
One other interesting note is that Brazilian pitcher Gilmar Pereira is still listed here though he has been MIA for 2+ years after pitching a handful of innings at GCL. We know he took a year off to pitch for the Brazilian national team in the Pan Am games (probably getting more experience than struggling for playing time at GCL), but he has not been heard of since he appeared in a New York Times article a couple of years ago.
EDIT – Updated roster posted. As noted, Jonathan Villar, Juan Sosa and a few others have definitely been promoted to GCL. A host of new pitchers are also listed. With weak-hitting OF Carlos Best now on the pitching staff. The one disappointment to me is seeing Alvaro Bacil still on the DSL squad. He was a relatively high profile signing last year who was in Extended Spring Training. He appears to have not made the cut this year.
We will check back in a few weeks with an early season update where hopefully we will have a better idea of which players to watch as prospects.
| Pitchers (click column headers to sort) | |||||||||
| # | Name | Pos | Bat | Thw | Ht | Wt | DOB | Status | MLB 40-man |
| 65 | Dario Alvarez | P | L | L | 6′ 1″ | 170 | 01-17-1989 | Active | No |
| 15 | Gabirel Arias | P | R | R | 6′ 2″ | 185 | 12-06-1989 | Active | No |
| 40 | Alvaro Bacil | P | R | R | 6′ 3″ | 170 | 10-28-1990 | Active | No |
| — | Carlos Best | P | R | R | 6′ 2″ | 170 | 01-13-1991 | Active | No |
| Lisalverto Bonilla | P | R | R | 6′ 1″ | 164 | 06-06-1990 | Active | No | |
| 42 | Domingo Brazoban | P | R | R | 6′ 2″ | 175 | 08-08-1989 | Active | No |
| 57 | Felix Cespedes | P | R | R | 6′ 3″ | 180 | 04-30-1991 | Active | No |
| 48 | Francique Charles | P | R | R | 6′ 0″ | 178 | 02-28-1989 | Active | No |
| 58 | Marcos Coca | P | R | R | 6′ 3″ | 156 | 01-19-1990 | Active | No |
| 28 | Daniel De La Cruz | P | R | R | 6′ 3″ | 175 | 08-10-1990 | Active | No |
| Jorge Lorenzo | P | R | R | 6′ 2″ | 175 | 09-29-1990 | Active | No | |
| Joan Pascual | P | L | L | 6′ 0″ | 180 | 03-06-1990 | Active | No | |
| George Ramirez | P | R | R | 6′ 1″ | 170 | 12-03-1989 | Active | No | |
| Camilo Santana | P | R | R | 6′ 3″ | 190 | 12-26-1987 | Active | No | |
| Adrian Sierra | P | L | L | 5′ 11″ | 155 | 01-10-1991 | Active | No | |
| Yari Sosa | P | R | R | 6′ 0″ | 180 | 09-30-1990 | Active | No | |
| Jose Vasquez | P | L | L | 5′ 11″ | 200 | 12-11-1989 | Active | No | |
| Catchers (click column headers to sort) | |||||||||
| # | Name | Pos | Bat | Thw | Ht | Wt | DOB | Status | MLB 40-man |
| 21 | Emmanuel Checo | C | R | R | 6′ 0″ | 190 | 12-18-1987 | Active | No |
| Rafael De La Cruz | C | R | R | 6′ 2″ | 200 | 07-29-1991 | Active | No | |
| Edwin Esquea | C | R | R | 6′ 0″ | 200 | 09-11-1991 | Active | No | |
| Felix Marine | C | R | R | 6′ 0″ | 180 | 05-25-1990 | Active | No | |
| 37 | Nelson Ventura | C | R | R | 5′ 11″ | 174 | 05-14-1990 | Active | No |
| Infielders (click column headers to sort) | |||||||||
| # | Name | Pos | Bat | Thw | Ht | Wt | DOB | Status | MLB 40-man |
| Eladio Berroa | 2B | S | R | 5′ 8″ | 155 | 02-02-1991 | Active | No | |
| Jorge Castillo | 2B | S | R | 5′ 10″ | 170 | 10-19-1990 | Active | No | |
| Nevri Jimenez | SS | S | R | 6′ 0″ | 175 | 03-23-1991 | Active | No | |
| 7 | Geancarlo Mendez | 1B | R | R | 6′ 2″ | 170 | 11-17-1989 | Active | No |
| Yeisson Morales | 3B | R | R | 6′ 3″ | 195 | 04-28-1992 | Active | No | |
| 16 | Anderson Moscat | 1B | R | R | 6′ 2″ | 188 | 05-31-1989 | Active | No |
| 67 | Carlos Valenzuela | SS | R | R | 5′ 11″ | 170 | 09-18-1990 | Active | No |
| Outfielders (click column headers to sort) | |||||||||
| # | Name | Pos | Bat | Thw | Ht | Wt | DOB | Status | MLB 40-man |
| Luis Beltre | OF | R | R | 6′ 1″ | 190 | 02-01-1992 | Active | No | |
| Francisco Dicen | OF | R | R | 6′ 3″ | 180 | 09-09-1990 | Active | No | |
| Lissander Mejia | OF | R | R | 6′ 1″ | 185 | 10-09-1991 | Active | No | |
| 10 | Jose Trinidad | RF | R | R | 6′ 2″ | 175 | 06-13-1991 | Active | No |
Phuture Phillies 
I figured we might see Santana in the GCL, and maybe we still will; but if he stays in the DSL, he’s certainly the one to keep an eye on.
Rebound year for Carlos Valenzuela? (He’d have to rebound pretty remarkably to get himself back on the prospect radar at this point.)
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All of the players assigned to the DSL will likely remain there for the season, as was the previous case in the VSL.
If they were to move up , they would likely have been assigned to the GCL in a transaction already. The only DSL player I see assigned there is Miguel Alvarez. The VSL players assigned there were Luis Martinez, Winder Torres, Edgar Duran, Jorge Guerra, and Francisco Diaz. I see no Latin American pitchers assigned there as yet. I have seen nothing on Carlos Hernandez , either way, either.
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Make that Cesar Hernandez. I see he is listed as Reserve List (minors) while players who have been assigned to GCL are listed as active, and others are listed as Released. So who knows?
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holy crap. i did two double takes (or one quadruple take) when i saw the DOB’s for these guys. 1992?!? for a second, i was sure that was a typo.
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Aaah if only those birthdates were true, wouldn’t that be sweet
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The DSL where do these kids play to get the money they get. I mean how do you determined that santana who sign for 300 plus is not as good a prospect then the kid mateo who is getting 4 million. Is there leagues that are good enough to evaulate these kids.
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No leagues, mostly just workout camps. Some guys get lucky- it might be Mateo even, who’d been playing on a national team thats been to the states.
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Thats why most latin prospects don’t really have a huge understanding of how to actually play the game.
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Most latin prospects before they come to to the states i should say.
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courtesy of Comcast Sportsnet, Bastardo will start tuesday for myers
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The signing bonuses for the top players like Mateo are very large because these players are free agents. Those with number 1 pick talent generate bidding competition that often pushes their price up.
The Phillies have been playing in the second tier of talent for the most part. Santana at $330K is the largest signing since Garcia ($500K) and Carrasco ($300K). It is probably reasonable to portray these guys as more like 2nd or 3rd round draft talent. They might have the tools of a number one, but as the fish says, their coaching and intangibles (diet, cultural adjustment) make them a little raw as a prospect.
Even if Santana dominates at DSL, it is usually a good idea to give these guys a year at DSL to soften the adjustment period and help them learn baseball/English.
What I am a little annoyed with is that there are no really young new pitchers on either squad (DSL/VSL). Only 1 18-year-old in the DSL and no one under 19 in the VSL. Compound this with the fact that Bacil looks to be back in the DSL this year, maybe Sosa as well. Bacil was a $100K signing from last year and Sosa was the best pitcher on the DSL team. If these guys are not ready to be promoted now they may not be great prospects unfortunately.
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i see domingo santana didnt play on opening day, any word on why?
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It appears the above roster was premature. It was not the roster for the upcoming season, but it was a last day of the offseason, cobbled together, with some scattered additions and left-overs from the early offseason. The real roster can be found on http://www.milb.com. Highlights : Carlos Best now a pitcher , no Gilmar Perreira, and no Domingo Santana. The Phillies also signed a bunch of new pitchers , apparently. I can not access the links right now, to see the League Transactions, so maybe some more can be learned there.
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Okay, got into the League Transactions Section. The Phillies signed a load of new players on the 30th May. It also says they signed Gilmar Perreira and Domingo Santana on the 29th May. Alot of the players on last season’s roster and not on this season’s roster have filed for Free Agency. I will consider things in a state of flux for the near and maybe more future.
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thx for the info, its appreciated.
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Just a suggestion, but if anyone on the site is having writer’s bloc this week, a report on who to watch out for in the VSL and DSL would be of great help to those who follow the stateside system and would like a guide on how to follow these guys overseas.
Perhaps a Top-10 list of people to follow; or top hitters/pitchers. Just a thought.
Thanks!
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” Marfis Says:
May 31, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Okay, got into the League Transactions Section. The Phillies signed a load of new players on the 30th May. It also says they signed Gilmar Perreira and Domingo Santana on the 29th May.”
which is further complicated by the fact that they signed Santanta in february, and Perreira in 2005. Though I guess they could have released him.
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“The Savior (Andrew) Says:
May 31, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Just a suggestion, but if anyone on the site is having writer’s bloc this week, a report on who to watch out for in the VSL and DSL would be of great help to those who follow the stateside system and would like a guide on how to follow these guys overseas.”
‘scroll down’. or check the link on the left for vsl/dsl- or was that not what you were looking for?
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There are top prospect lists on the VSL/DSL links from last year that give everyone an idea of where to start looking.
As for these new players, if they are not publicized signings as in Domingo Santana, we really don’t know much about them until they play. The most important statistics to look at is really age. The young guys (age 16-18) that get playing time are generally the real prospects.
I’ll have updates in a couple of weeks on the early season, starting with the VSL.
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Those players may have signed with the Phillies way back when, but when they make the roster they are also signed by the DSL team. That’s what it says signed by DSL Phillies.
The last time I looked not on the roster.
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“Marfis Says:
June 1, 2009 at 6:08 am
Those players may have signed with the Phillies way back when, but when they make the roster they are also signed by the DSL team. That’s what it says signed by DSL Phillies.”
I understand now- ‘assigned’, just a translation problem.
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Most of these new signees were probably signed last Fall. I also assume that list of players filing for free agency are the ones that we released this spring, either from EST or from the DSL complex.
The new list at least is a little deeper than it first appeared to be. Let’s hope we have a couple of prospects among the new arms.
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Garcia is still having Dominican Visa issues isn’t he? is there a chance we could see him moonlighting for the phillies team down there to stay in pitching shape while he gets it all sorted out?
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nevermind i found the answer to my own question in yesterdays Reading Eagle.
19. Edgar Garcia: Visa problems have kept him out of the states so far, so he’s pitching at the Phillies academy in the Dominican.
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Yeisson Morales- 6’3 195, there’s another big 3rd baseman they signed evidently, must be around 17. There’s somebody to check out. Did not play in the 1st game of the season. The 1st and 3rd basemen (Giancarlo Mendez and Anderson Moscat) each had 3 hits (HR from Moscat) and they’re each around 20, so maybe he sits mostly for awhile.
On the Domingo Santana thing, it could be he is still at Extended Spring Training in Florida to work on some stuff. And though he has been assigned to the DSL squad he will not report until after the draft when the coaches will be busy with the GCL team.
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Looking for a Valenzuela turnaround? He’s started the year 0 for 8 and had 3 errors in last night’s game and 4 in two games. The team has 11 errors in the 2 games so far. Let’s hope they have a really, really tough official scorer.
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I am not expecting much from Valenzuela. He was outplayed in every area by Jonathan Villar last year (who will probably start at SS this year in GCL).
I have read that a number of people thought the Phillies overpayed for Valenzuela, though I do like the Phillies strategy of mining the second tier of international prospects (the $100K-$300K range). If we sign 4-6 of these prospects every year and get 1-2 decent prospects we are doing well.
Bastardo apparently cost us $17K. He was obviously hurt by his height (re the bonus), though his performance from day 1 in the organization has been good.
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I see Bacil started last night. How about this kid Jimenez? He’s an 18 year old, switch hitting SS. I know we’re only 3 games in but he’s on fire. 7 hits in 12 ABs. Has a HR. .583 Avg with a 1.667 OPS. Best thing is that with all the errors made by this team, he is error free.
Was he a high profile sign?
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“Marfis Says:
June 2, 2009 at 6:52 am
Yeisson Morales- 6′3 195, there’s another big 3rd baseman they signed evidently, must be around 17.”
I don’t get too caught up in being suspicious over latin ages, except when I see kids with that kind of body at a young age. Thats when I want a little more assurance.
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Jimenez does not appear to be a high profile signing. He is new this year at age 18, which means he chose not to sign as a 16-year-old. Hopefully he is a late developer, though lets give him a few more AB before we talk about him as a prospect.
It IS a good sign that he is playing regularly in prominent offensive (leadoff) and defensive (CF/SS) positions.
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Looks, from the stats, like Valenzuela is starting to stabilize a bit. Got his average up to .217, which is higher than Laddy Berroa and alot of those guys. Back at SS from 2B where he took over from Berroa and an appearance from Nevri Jiminez , hard hitter who has played the OF. Valenzuela also has slowed down his rate of error making.
From Valenzuela to Venezuela. Phillies signed a couple of (around 17 y.o.) players. A SS and an OF.
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