Baseball America (in the form of Ben Badler) is in the process of recapping all of the under-23 International Free Agency signings to date. Today he takes a look at the Cubs and the rest of the NL Central, covering everyone who received a signing bonus of at least $100k. The article looks to be ungated, though it can be difficult to tell sometimes with BA; do check it out.
The Cubs have signed a total of 27 players in the current period. All of the names in the piece (Eloy Jimenez, Gleyber Torres, etc…) have been previously covered here at OV with the exception of Jesus Gonzalez. Gonzalez, it turns out was a 2012-2013 signee; he agreed to a $100k bonus last June.
At 5-foot-10, 145 pounds, Gonzalez signed as a shortstop but played mostly second base last year, though he’ll probably move back and forth between the two spots this season. He’s an average runner with… solid hands in the field, with second base probably his best fit. He needs to get stronger and bring better performance to the plate in games.
Scouting Reports
Most of the reports are fairly positive, though Badler seems lukewarm on Eloy, who he rates as having average raw power, and worries about his long arms and in-game performance to-date.
The report on Jen-Ho Tseng is encouraging, as we heard in July that many scouts had backed off of him after seeing declining stuff in the World Baseball Classic. Badler reports that the Cubs were one of a few teams to stay with him and they saw the velocity get back up around 95 again in June.
19 year-old RHP Jefferson Mejia gets perhaps the best reviews of the bunch:
His fastball has explosive life down in the zone, with downhill plane and hard sink. It’s an uncomfortable at-bat for opposing hitters, who also have to deal with a solid upper-70s curveball that Mejia has added some power to over the past year with late, sharp action at times.
On Gleyber Torres:
He has a compact, relatively filled out frame for his age, though he has leaned out some since signing… He has good bat-to-ball skills with his ability to stay short to the ball and good hand-eye coordination.. The Cubs see Torres as an above-average athlete who can play shortstop, though others aren’t as sold on his athleticism and see… a skill set that elicits comparisons to Freddy Sanchez.
Wladimir Galindo
Absent from BA's writeup is Wladimir Galindo. In December, the Cubs signed Galindo off of his strong performance with the team's minor-league affiliate in the Venezuelan Winter League. The omission likely indicates that his signing bonus was less than $100k, but it's possible that BA just hasn't been able to confirm his signing yet.
*UPDATE*- Badler confirms on twitter that Galindo was a lower-bonus signing.
@luftmich They signed him, but he's a lower-level guy.
— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) March 11, 2014
Assignments
Badler hears that Eloy and Gleyber won't start out in Arizona this season. (In Torres's case, that conflicts with a previous report.) He has Mejia slated for Arizona and Tseng possibly starting in Boise or even Kane County.
Comments
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospect wrote:
He had an injury redshirt in college, I believe.
GWQuote Reply
only $8 million for Aledmys Diaz.
GWQuote Reply
I didn’t realize Olt was dealing with shoulder issues
GWQuote Reply
Looking like Bennett——-> Seahawks
Mobile berseliusQuote Reply
@ Mobile berselius:
Cubs bid was 2nd highest.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
l to the ol
Suburban kidQuote Reply
GW wrote:
For three years?
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
I just bought Jimmy Johns. I gave them $5.50 for a sandwich, even though the person behind me said he wouldn’t be outbid for it.
MylesQuote Reply
In his defense, he had the second highest bid for the sandwich, at $1.50.
MylesQuote Reply
@ Berselius, Cubs #12 prospect:
he was actually 23 his first season, as his birthday is in November. college senior + redshirt year = 23, I guess.
GWQuote Reply
Myles wrote:
Now that you own Jimmy Johns, I hope you can hook us up with a discount.
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
Looks like Brandon Beachy might be hurt now too. I hope Thoyer is in the phone with the Braves FO.
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospect wrote:
He is, but all he’s doing is laughing.
MylesQuote Reply
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospect wrote:
Is this his escape plan similar to the gorilla costume?
[img]http://aboveallvzw.com/images/aboveallvzw//voyager/voyager400.jpg[/img]
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
(dying laughing), damn typos
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
@ Berselius, Cubs #12 prospect:
I had to read that four times before I understood it. (dying laughing)
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
I like it.
Particularly when bundled with faget points.
Just plain BVSQuote Reply
@ Just plain BVS:
though maybe without “.net” To me, the .coms .nets .edus are just addressing, not identity, but that’s only my 2c.
Just plain BVSQuote Reply
@ Just plain BVS:
I think the .net serves a purpose because so many instinctually type in .com into their url bar. It’s not as big a deal as it was maybe a few years ago, but I still like it. Since .com is taken, it seems important to make note of .net. I could be convinced otherwise, but unless 424, Adam or berselius, says anything, I’d prefer to stick with .net on there.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
We need to go to .xxx to bump up our Pizza Hut MILF search hits
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
That’s awesome. Great job with the art.
Rice in limboQuote Reply
I think you could have incorporated this into it.
[img]http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/0ModernMower2.jpg[/img]
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Rice in limbo:
We didn’t do it. We’re joining Bloguin soon and they did. I think it looks pretty nice, but probably not as good as if we incorporated SK’s lazy man’s power mower image.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
+1
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Suburban kid wrote:
That has to be a parody.
Rice in limboQuote Reply
So, I understand Baseball is not being canceled this year. I apparently received some bum information.
joshQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
I guess they weren’t sitting on aisle 424 when they got their picture of Wrigley
Just plain BVSQuote Reply
@ josh:
from what i can tell, they canceled MLB, but some of the minor leagues will still play.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
brett is suggesting that jon morosi is suggesting that the cubs could trade schierholtz since ryan kalish looks like he might be healthy this year. i would deal schierholtz in a heartbeat if the cubs could get a decent prospect for him. i think his stock is as high now as it will ever be.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
I’d trade Schierholtz for a lottery ticket arm, honestly. If another team offered me their Trey McNutt or Juan Carlos Paniagua I’d snap take that. I don’t think we could get much more, so you might as well shoot for the high ceiling – dungeon floor guys.
MylesQuote Reply
Rotoworld’s FA predictions:
Like You CareQuote Reply
New odds in the Race for #5:
McDonald: Had a really nice start, pretty much locked it up. All he needed was a chance to show he’s healthy and has the ability to retire batters. 67%
Jokisch: Has really impressed, but it’s McDonald’s job to lose. Will join a stacked Iowa rotation. 13%
Rusin: If McDonald falters, it looks like they want Rusin to be first man up. 10%
MylesQuote Reply
Field: 10%
MylesQuote Reply
Like You Care wrote:
If you told me the Bears were going to be able to sign Melton for 3/$20 two years ago I would have…expected an ACL tear, I guess.
MylesQuote Reply
Can someone do a write up Kalish? No clue who this guy is or why he’s being talked about as a starter or someone who was once a good prospect.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
JonKneeV wrote:
Yeah, I’ll work on putting something together now that it appears like he’s a lock for the 40.
MylesQuote Reply
@ Myles:
Could end up being a blessing.
Signing Houston would be an upgrade over Peppers, but it could also point to a different look for the CHI defense. A look more like SEA’s with a line of Bass/Washington, Houston, Paea, Melton, Wootton.
Like You CareQuote Reply
Richard Sherman is hilarious.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
(dying laughing)
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
Per AZ Phil, Pierce Johnson has been shut down, and is only cleared to do PFP.
http://www.thecubreporter.com/comment/220016#comment-220016
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
Goodbye Pierce Johnson.
MylesQuote Reply
new shit:
http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/irait-chirino-stats-and-video.html
GWQuote Reply
Unblock Facebook From University The Best Way and darmowa nauka angielskiego.
Unblock Facebook From University The Best Way
nauka slowek onlineQuote Reply