On May 13th the Phillies signed Julsan Kamara out of Germany, not much was know at the time but some more has come out since.
Before proceeding read Crashburn Alley’s Eric Longenhagen’s article that includes a quote from Phillies Director of International Scouting, Sal Agostinelli http://crashburnalley.com/2013/05/21/lass-uns-verstecken-spielen-brief-findings-on-julsan-kamara/
What we don’t know:
– Can Kamara handle premium pitches and velocity
– Future physical projection
– Game abilities
– Whether the Phillies have any real ties to continued Euro scouting
What we do know:
– Kamara won’t be here until Spring 2014 at the earliest
– He signed for $40,000
– Sal Agostinelli is one of the best in the game at what he does
– $40,000 is not a lot of money to spend on talent
– Sal Agostinelli has free reign to pursue low cost guys he wants and the Phillies are not tied to only talent from certain regions
On the whole Kamara is likely not going to be much but it is an encouraging sign to people who doubt the Phillies scouting staff’s ability to bring in talent. Sal has signed plenty of similar players out of Latin America, maybe he has found on in Germany.
Phuture Phillies 
You never know. I like that they’re thinking outside the box a little. If the kid doesn’t amount to anything it’s no big deal.
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A seven year deal doesn’t seem typical for a guy who signs for 40K.
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I think the 7 year deal came from a misunderstanding on amateur signing rules. As far as I can tell this is the typical international signing with $40,000 signing bonus and normal minor league rules.
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Thanks. Hopefully some good news later this summer on Encarnation and Zapata.
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Matt……normal LA kids from the DR and Ven start at 16 with ‘time in org’ started at that point, but normally do not graduate from a HS. I can only assume Kamara’s start date is technically not until after he graduates HS in 2014. Is that the caveat on the 6 vs 7 year commitment?
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It could be, still a very confusing way to say it. Mostly irrelevant but I wonder what year the bonus goes under in that case
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The bonus limits from last year are still in effect until the dead period in advance of next year’s July signing date (which is July 2nd). This is probably one of the 6 signings for up to $50K that we get that do not count on the $2.9 million limit. We still probably have at least $700K of our limit to use if there are any prospects still out there with later birthdays.
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Curious if he’s signing for $40k and then getting that skimpy minor league salary we talk about. That doesn’t seem very attractive unless he’s “taken care of” otherwise.
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who are the big prospects coming out of latin america this year
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For space reasons I have removed the contents of this post and you can read the exact writing here on Baseball America http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/ten-international-prospects-to-watch-for-july-2/
MattWinks
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We maxed out in Canada and Australia … Back to Europe. Where to next Scandanavia? Or maybe Iraq or Afghanistan. We have thousands of scouts in camo. I’m joking I have no problem with taking a shot at anyone if they can play!
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They play baseball in Finland , but its not quite the same game , I was there and caught a game its an odd to say the least , but if they could play baseball as well as they drive im all for it
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