2009 International Free Agent Season

[BrewPackBuck]

I dont know where to put this so Ill put it here. I was looking at the DSL and it got me thinking about International FAs. I have a couple questions to those who know. When does International FA start and are the Brewers going to be active in the big names this year, I know they usually arnt so Im just curious. Thanks for any information that you can give me.

[Mass Haas]

Maybe a mod more technically savvy than myself can combine this thread and this one (Brewers one of three favorites to sign Dominican OF Jose Pena) within this forum under "2009 International Free Agent Season" -- it's an awkward call betwen this and the draft forum for now.

[mkm13]

Just wondering if anyone could answer BrewPackBucks question? Has Pena signed anywhere yet? Does anyone have a list of players currently in the minor league system who were international free agents? Thanks

[Never Outhustled]

July 2nd is the day the signing period starts.

[TooLiveBrew]

Were the Brewers rumored to sign Pena at any previous juncture? I swear I remember the Brewers being linked to a D.R. or Caribbean prospect whose most common comp. was Jermaine Dye.

[battlekow]

According to ESPN's Jorge Arangure, Jose Pena will be a Brewer tomorrow!

 

Lots of scouting reports and rumors about Pena and other int'l prospects in my thread in the draft forum.

[BoKnowsBall]

If true good news. I wonder if he is really 16 though

[battlekow]

MLB is vetting all of these guys pretty thoroughly this year. I would be confident in his age.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Hey, cool news. Thanks for the update...nice to see the Brewers' continuing commitment to latin america. I am hopeful that they won't be drafting in the top 10 for a while, so any avenue for high-ceiling talent is welcome.

[Never Outhustled]

Very exciting. Sounds like he's not just toolsy, but a great character guy too. Corner power is the biggest weakness iin the system, so its extra cool that he addresses that.

 

MLB is vetting all of these guys pretty thoroughly this year.

Its good that MLB is helping teams make safer investments. I wonder if this is part of why the Brewers seem more aggressive internationally this year.

 

nice to see the Brewers' continuing commitment to latin america.

Your the 2nd person I've seen comment that. I'm curious as to what makes you believe that. The Brewers haven't ever been much of a factor their. They've never had a 7 figure signee. Ben Badler, in a recent column where he broke teams into tiers based on there historical involvement their, lumped us in a lower tier of teams he called bargain hunters.

[BrewPackBuck]

nice to see the Brewers' continuing commitment to latin america.

Your the 2nd person I've seen comment that. I'm curious as to what makes you believe that. The Brewers haven't ever been much of a factor their. They've never had a 7 figure signee. Ben Badler, in a recent column where he broke teams into tiers based on there historical involvement their, lumped us in a lower tier of teams he called bargain hunters.

Well Im sure he doesnt mean we have to have a 7 figure signee to be active in latin america. Havent we signed at least one the past 2 or 3 seasons? Though I would love for the Brewers to go after that huge upside 7 figure signee but thats just not the way they are with the way they have been in previous years.

[NastyTwig]

I have a feeling that this one is our first 7 figure signing.

 

/not basing this on any info, but I've got a feeling

[Never Outhustled]

Well Im sure he doesnt mean we have to have a 7 figure signee to be active in latin america. Havent we signed at least one the past 2 or 3 seasons?

If its not big ticket guys that make us active, its certainly not quantity. We were the only team that didn't have an entry in the DSL until this year, and even now we only have a handful of players there. Our biggest signing last year was for just $225 K. Just 5 of the P50 are international signings.

 

I don't mean this as a critism at all, as I don't think they should waste money if they feel its inefficient, and I think alot teams flush money there. I'm just excited they are now confident enough to become a player there.

[battlekow]

Brewers got Pena for only $400K, which is amazing:

The Brewers have inked RF Jose Pena for $400,000...Steal by the Brewers. I had a chance to see Pena in action and while some of the $1 million talk could have been misinformation or marketing by people trying to pump his value, Pena is a very nice buy at this price for Milwaukee.

[battlekow]

Adam McCalvy reports that the Brewers also inked 17-year-old Dominican RHP Jean Capellan (ha) for five figures:

Capellan is a right-hander who reaches 92 mph with his fastball and features a hard breaking ball.

"He has an aggressive mound presence," Seid said. "I liked what I saw from him. He wasn't considered a top-tier prospect, but to our organization he's got potential to do something from a pitching standpoint."

Seid on Pena:

"It's official. He signed," Seid said. "We're real happy that we got Jose Pena. We've been watching him for some time and had him at a couple of workouts, and [brewers general manager] Doug Melvin was down here and saw him. We've been really able to cover the bases on Jose Pena."

Some steps remain. Pena must pass a physical, plus Major League Baseball's official background check that verifies players' ages. Pena just turned 16 in March, and Seid expected no problems in that process.

Pena, 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, is a right-handed hitter described by Seid as a polished hitter with power and projectability.

"He's a great 'make-up' kid," Seid said. "He's someone who looks you in the eye and takes instruction well. Overall, the package is good in terms of ability, power, athleticism and make-up."

Best of all, the Brewers are still aggressively pursuing some other guys.

[SoCalBrewfan]

I didn't think all that hard about the word 'continuing' in reference to the Brewers' commitment, and it might well be inappropriate. But here's my thought process.

 

Milw did very little in latin america for a long time. Then at one point they hired Epy Guerrero in order to change that around. That pretty much bombed.

 

They more recently (say, 2005 or so) changed strategies, hiring Arango, closing the DR team and supposedly signing a smaller number of more expensive prospects who could make the move to AZL right away. While there were no 7-figure signings, they dropped $710k on Pascual, $450K on Peralta, and I don't remember how much on Roque Mercedes. They spent a bit on Arias and Garcia as well more recently IIRC. They talked themselves up, saying they wanted to be a player.

 

For all that, though, it looks as though there has been little return to this point. That's arguable of course. Peralta looks like he could be a good one, but he's still far from being a big league contributor. The other guys still have time, and it's laughably premature to write off a guy like Garcia. But it's not hard to argue that they might well have been better off using that money in other ways, let's say signing Jemile Weeks in 2005 instead. (Assuming that it's one or the other...as a fan I would like to see both but I don't know if that's realistic.)

 

It would be easy for the team to look at the return thus far on their investment, and the amounts some guys are now signing for, and say, to heck with it....let the Yankees and others dump money there. That might in fact be a rational approach...maybe the bang for the buck is greater in the States, Puerto Rico, Canada, where the Brewers seem to have done reasonably well. Still, given that it's not my money, I'm heartened by the fact that they are still in the game in latin america at all, as sometimes those investments, even very small ones pay off big time. (See, for example, Alcides Escobar, or Peralta.)

[Never Outhustled]

I'm heartened by the fact that they are still in the game in latin america at all, as sometimes those investments, even very small ones pay off big time. (See, for example, Alcides Escobar, or Peralta.)

I agree that its better than nothing. Peralta was a pretty big signing too, he got like $400 K. However, when you see a team like the Reds spend more on 2 guys last year than we've spent total since 2005, its disappointing, especially when you consider the money we saved by not having an academy. Those 2 Reds signings are both ranked among there top 10 prospects.

[igor67]

Last name aside a 17 year old who can throw 92 and has a reasonable breaking pitch seems like a pretty good value at less than six figures, there are worse strategies than cheaply stocki piling as many young guns who can throw in the 90's and see who survives.

[dadofandrew]

As lanky as the average Latino teen is, seeing who sticks seems like as good a strategy as any.

 

Escobar alone makes the last few years a huge success in Latin America.

[Mass Haas]

They more recently (say, 2005 or so) changed strategies, hiring Arango, closing the DR team and supposedly signing a smaller number of more expensive prospects who could make the move to AZL right away. While there were no 7-figure signings, they dropped $710k on Pascual, $450K on Peralta, and I don't remember how much on Roque Mercedes. They spent a bit on Arias and Garcia as well more recently IIRC. They talked themselves up, saying they wanted to be a player.

RHP Rolando Pascual, 2005 -- $710,000

OF Jose Garcia, 2007 -- $550,000

RHP Wily Peralta, 2005 -- $450,000

SS Yohannis Perez, 2006 (DR via Cuba) -- $450,000

OF Hitaniel Arias, 2007 -- $450,000

RHP Roque Mercedes, 2004 -- $375,000

 

Garcia and Arias a combined $1,000,000 in '07, significant investments.

[strobl2]

Just wondering, did we have any significant signings out of latin america last year (2008)?

[battlekow]

Just wondering, did we have any significant signings out of latin america last year (2008)?

I don't know how significant they'll turn out to be, but the Brewers spent $225K each on SS Andres Martinez and RHP Heri Oliver. OF Juan Barrini also signed for a low six-figure bonus, but the forum search is down and I can't remember exactly what it was.

I agree that its better than nothing. Peralta was a pretty big signing too, he got like $400 K. However, when you see a team like the Reds spend more on 2 guys last year than we've spent total since 2005, its disappointing, especially when you consider the money we saved by not having an academy. Those 2 Reds signings are both ranked among there top 10 prospects.

Well, it's worth noting that the bonuses paid to Yorman Rodriguez and Juan Duran were both top 10-alltime. Combined, they probably exceed the international expenditures since 2005 of most teams.

[battlekow]

Some additional security for anyone worried about Pena actually being 16, from Kiley McDaniel:

interesting verification news: all DR signees will have to take DNA tests to confirm parents/identity on the way out of the country.

[nate82]

Will Pena be in Helena this year?

 

Another question does this mark a serious interest (more big time signings possible?) by the Brewers in the DR now?

[battlekow]

Will Pena be in Helena this year?

No, Pena probably won't be in Helena until 2011 at the earliest. Most July 2 prospects sign contracts for the next year (notable exception this year: Gary Sanchez with the Yankees), a precedent I assume Pena followed, so we won't see him play until 2010. The best international prospects usually draw AZL/GCL assignments in their first year, while the rest head to the DSL; the exception, before this year, was of course Brewers signees, since the Brewers didn't have a DSL team, and so guys like Hitaniel Arias and Jose Garcia were sent to the AZL to begin their careers. With Arias getting a surprising assignment to Helena to begin this year, I guess that's the same path to hope Pena follows, but don't be disappointed if he doesn't make it to Helena until mid-2011 or 2012.

 

If it means anything, though it probably doesn't since Pena is a better prospect than either Arias or Garcia, Pena's birthday is 3/3, very close to Garcia's 3/5, while Arias was an earlier birthday for his signing period, 9/20.