Per Ben Badler at BA, the Phils have signed Jose Pujols, who Badler called #20 in International FA market. “Philadelphia has signed Dominican corner outfielder Jose Pujols for $540,000. Pujols, 16, has tremendous righthanded power and bat speed from his lanky 6-foot-4, 175-pound frame.”
Seeing Badler also reporting Phils signed 16-year old catcher Deivi Grullon. Commenters below have info on him already, but Badler called him the 15th best Intl. prospect last week.
This post will provide a brief summary about the new names seen on the minor league work groups this spring. There are more than 20 players on the minor league spring training rosters that are new signings or who played last year in one of the two Latin American complex leagues (the DSL and VSL).
The big news internationally for the Phillies this past year was the signing of OF Carlos Tocci for a reported bonus of $759,000. This bonus is one of the largest ever given by the Phillies to an International player, though the team’s largest bonuses in the past have a mixed record of success. The highest bonuses have generally been spent on players that did not work out (Seung Lee, Il Kim, Carlos Rodriguez), though the team has had some success with mid-level bonuses to players like Carlos Carrasco and new 2B Freddy Galvis. By all accounts Tocci is a highly skilled CF with plus tools but with major questions about how much power he might eventually add. Tocci is the big name in spring training, however, and it will be interesting to see where the team places him. Galvis was in a similar situation and he was given an aggressive placement in the NY-Penn league when he was 17. Tocci will not even turn 17 till later in the Summer, however, so a GCL destination is the most likely. Continue reading 2012 – New International Players In Spring Training
I’m trying to not get too excited, but Jeff Passan, who generally doesn’t make a habit out of rumor mongering, tweeted this
https://twitter.com/#!/JeffPassan/status/169962180060524544
So I’m excited now. I did a writeup on Cespedes and Soler a little while back. BA has a nice in depth scouting report on Soler in this article (subscription required for the full thing), but here is the conclusion:
Soler is athletic for his size and there are reports of him running the 60-yard dash in 6.5 seconds—a time that grades out as well above-average speed—but several scouts have said he’s really an average runner at best, running better underway than down the line. Soler was a tall, slender guy back in 2008 when he played third base for Cuba at the 16U COPABE Pan American Championships in Mexico, but he’s blown up physically since then. Depending on how much bigger he gets, there’s a chance he could end up at first base down the road, but he should be able to handle right field for the near future. Scouts are mixed on his outfield instincts but he does have an above-average arm. He would likely begin his career at one of the Class A levels.
So if you’re the type of person who gets bent out of shape when things don’t go your way, then don’t get excited. But if you like to believe in the best possible scenario unfolding, then get excited that the Phillies are legitimately in the running for this guy.
You can cross him off your winter wishlist. I wrote a bit about him here, and he ended up signing for right in the range I had speculated. Another one bites the dust.
Someone emailed me asking my thoughts on Yoenis Cespedes, the 26 year old internet sensation who has now established residency in the Dominican Republic and will soon be granted MLB free agency. The Phillies worked out Cespedes in November, with Pat Gillick making the trip to see him. In every subsequent article written about Cespedes, the Phillies are mentioned. At the end of December, Bob Brookover wrote about the Phillies interest, as well as their interest in Jorge Soler (more on him later) but seemed to spell out that both guys would be out of the Phillies price range. So there are a number of questions: how good are these guys, do the Phillies have a realistic chance to sign them, and where would they rank among our current prospects? I’ll try to answer those questions below the fold.
Continue reading Some thoughts on the marquee Cuban prospects floating around
Jim Salisbury has the details here. The rumored price is $750K, which would be a Phillies record in Latin America. Seems to be ultra athletic, with excellent speed, and he throws/bats righthanded. This would be a fairly significant investment, by the Phillies standards, and would be welcomed with open arms.
Update –> He’s signed, according to Baseball America, for $759,000.
With the posting of the minor league workout groups I wanted to throw up another post with brief info on some of the new faces in camp that have not previously played at GCL or in another stateside league. There are at my count 20 new players listed on the minor league workout groups that did not play in the U.S. This is a huge number, though I imagine the Phillies will pare down that number a little by releasing a handful of the older players and demoting a few to the DSL or VSL leagues to get playing time. Continue reading 2011 New International Players in Spring Training
Jim Salisbury has the scoop on twitter. 6’4 LHP. Fits the mold for the Phillies in terms of the money they like to spend. Should be interesting, and I’ll post more details as they are available.
In today’s Gelb-Brookover collaboration, they note the Phillies have signed Venezuelan SS Anderson Gonzalez for $300K, the amount that seems to have become the Phillies comfort amount over the last few years in Latin America. For reference (and this is off the top of my head), a $300K bonus for a player drafted in June would be 3rd round money. Here is what G-B have to say
The Phillies lost a talented prospect when they surrendered single-A Lakewood shortstop Jonathan Villar in the deal with Houston that brought them righthander Roy Oswalt at the trade deadline. They are hoping they signed another talented shortstop prospect in Anderson Gonzalez, who recently received a $300,000 bonus. That’s the largest bonus the Phillies have paid to any of their international signings this year. “I love his hands, his athleticism and the way he plays the game,” said Sal Agostinelli, the Phillies’ international scouting supervisor. “He’s built a little bit like [Derek] Jeter. It’s a body that he will fill into. The thing I really love is that he can hit. He doesn’t have a lot of power, but he’s only 16.” Gonzalez is the second Venezuelan shortstop the team has added during the international signing period, which began July 2. They also signed Francisco Silva for $180,000. The Phillies could not sign Gonzalez at the beginning of the international signing period because he was not yet 16 years old. He turned 16 July 25. Agostinelli said Gonzalez will soon join the Phillies’ Venezuelan Summer League team and report to the Florida Instructional League later this year. He will also play in the Venezuelan Parallel League during the winter.
For about $200K, per Baseball America. Like Freddy Galvis, it appears his glove is ahead of his bat, but we don’t know a ton about him yet, obviously. Still nice to see the Phillies active early.
Phuture Phillies 