Article: Twins International Signing Period Preview

[maxisagod]

Acording to BA team tracker the Twins also signed an OF "Luis Baez, of, Dominican Republic, $300,000."  With them expected to sign Carlos Aguiar and Mauro Bonifacio in Aug. It sounds like they have their Outfield set.  

[Bob Sacamento]

 

 

13. Jelfry Marte, ss, Dominican Republic

Born: March 27, 2001. Height: 5-10. Weight: 165. B-T: B-R.

While a lot of shortstops who will sign on July 2 are shortstops in name only, Marte is a safe bet to stay at the position. With a medium build and a thin frame, Marte is a bouncy, quick-twitch athlete with a chance to develop into a plus defensive shortstop. He’s a plus runner with slick actions in the field, where he does things with ease. He’s quick and agile with good body control and range to both sides, along with soft hands and an above-average, accurate arm. Marte has good defensive instincts but he has times where he plays out of control and tries to be too flashy rather than making the secure play.
Marte is a true shortstop and scouts who believed in his bat had him higher up their lists. However, many scouts questioned how much impact he will provide at the plate and predicted he would hit toward the bottom of a lineup. Those scouts had concerns about both Marte’s pure hitting ability and his power, though getting stronger could help him become a better hitter. He’s mostly a singles hitter for now with occasional gap power and could grow into a 6-10 home run hitter in his prime. Marte is a potential high stolen base threat who causes havoc on the bases with an aggressive style and sharp baserunning instincts for his age. Marte trains with Alberto Fana and is expected to be one of the highest paid players in the class with a bonus likely to be around $3 million. The Twins are linked to Marte

[AZTwin]

How do you pay 3M for a guy with questions on his bat? Any info on the other OF they signed?

[drjim]

 

How do you pay 3M for a guy with questions on his bat? Any info on the other OF they signed?

 

They are really loading up on athletes (for better or worse).

[70charger]

How do you pay 3M for a guy with questions on his bat? Any info on the other OF they signed?

They're 16 year olds. Literally every single one of them has question marks about their bats.

 

Would it help if maybe they went to college and won the triple crown in the nation's most competitive conference? Would that answe some of your questions? What's that? You hate that guy too?

 

Hmm. So if we aren't picking 24 year old Mike Trout with every pick it's all just wasted? Got it.

[gunnarthor]

He's getting 3m because that's how much this market has valued him at.

[AZTwin]

He's getting 3m because that's how much this market has valued him at.

Exactly. That's my point. I highly doubt the Twins think he is a .240 or below hitter if they are shelling out that type of money

[Vanimal46]

Nothing makes you feel old as dirt than talking about players born in 2001.... Good lord. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

 

[Seth Stohs]

Looks like Jelfry Marte is official now... 

 

https://twitter.com/TwinsLatinos/status/881911426125881344 

[Seth Stohs]

Looks like 8 players have signed this morning...

 

 

[maxisagod]

 

Looks like 8 players have signed this morning...

 

 

And that's just from the Dominican. If you look at the lists of top unsigned players they fall into 2 categories. Not yet 16 or from Venezuela. I think independent experts and sources are much stronger in DR. It will be interesting who the Twins sign from elsewhere. 

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Looks like 8 players have signed this morning...

 

 

Yelinson Peña (SS), Luis Báez (OF), Yolby Guzmán (RHP), José Anjudar (OF), Jeyson Ferreira (RHP), Jelfry Marte (SS) Yoldin Mateo (RHP) y Wilfred Castro ©

[AZTwin]

Love the investment down there. We have a really strong team and I hope these kids continue that tradition. We are starting to see the fruits in the majors and upper minor leagues. Hope this trend continues

[twinsfanstreif]

I could really only find stuff on Marte. Do we know anything about the rest of those guys?

[caninatl04]

What's wrong with this picture:

 

Ronny Mauricio, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 3 prospect), $2.1 million.

 

George Valera, of, Dominican Republic (No. 5 prospect), $1.3 million

 

Julio Rodriguez, of, Dominican Republic (No. 6 prospect), $1.75 million
 

Jelfry Marte, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 13 prospect), $3 million.


 

[old nurse]

 

What's wrong with this picture:

 

Ronny Mauricio, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 3 prospect), $2.1 million.

 

George Valera, of, Dominican Republic (No. 5 prospect), $1.3 million

 

Julio Rodriguez, of, Dominican Republic (No. 6 prospect), $1.75 million
 

Jelfry Marte, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 13 prospect), $3 million.


 

Somebody believes the accuracy of prospect rankings  of 16 year old kids

 

[Mike Sixel]

 

Somebody believes the accuracy of prospect rankings  of 16 year old kids

 

That is, imo, unfair. There seems to be a reasonable question in his comment. I can't currently find a list of all the signings, but if there aren't many at that level, it seems reasonable to wonder why they paid that much.

 

The teams clearly think they can rank 15 and 16 year olds, otherwise their wouldn't be big bonuses given out, so it isn't that they are not rankable at all.

[youngtwinsfan]

 

What's wrong with this picture:

 

Ronny Mauricio, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 3 prospect), $2.1 million.

 

George Valera, of, Dominican Republic (No. 5 prospect), $1.3 million

 

Julio Rodriguez, of, Dominican Republic (No. 6 prospect), $1.75 million
 

Jelfry Marte, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 13 prospect), $3 million.


 

 Marte was as high as 3 on one board (MLB.com I think). Just shows how hard it is to judge these kids at such a young age. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

Wait you mean rankings aren't the exact way things will end up?

 

has anyone ever claimed that? Ever?

[youngtwinsfan]

 

has anyone ever claimed that? Ever?

I was being extremely sarcastic. Probably should have made it more obvious. 

[Mr. Brooks]

That is, imo, unfair. There seems to be a reasonable question in his comment. I can't currently find a list of all the signings, but if there aren't many at that level, it seems reasonable to wonder why they paid that much.

 

The teams clearly think they can rank 15 and 16 year olds, otherwise their wouldn't be big bonuses given out, so it isn't that they are not rankable at all.

But that ranking isn't done by the same people giving out the contracts.

He could have listed mlb pipelines rankings instead and the bonuses would have matched up better.

[drjim]

mlb is generally more based on industry consensus while BA is more independent. Probably explains some of the difference.

[Mike Sixel]

 

But that ranking isn't done by the same people giving out the contracts.
He could have listed mlb pipelines rankings instead and the bonuses would have matched up better.

 

hence my statement that if very few are at that level, it raises the question, do the Twins feel that others would have spent that much on the player, since there are hard caps now, what you spend on one player matters more than ever.

 

hence my statement that we need to see how much everyone got.

[drjim]

I do wonder if BA is more accurate right now. Most of the big deals are negotiated over a year ago, people change a lot in their 14/15/16 years.

 

Marte is a fine prospect but certainly could have slipped from the point he was at when the Twins locked him up.

[Mike Sixel]

 

I do wonder if BA is more accurate right now. Most of the big deals are negotiated over a year ago, people change a lot in their 14/15/16 years.

Marte is a fine prospect but certainly could have slipped from the point he was at when the Twins locked him up.

 

that part makes it really hard for sure.

[old nurse]

 

That is, imo, unfair. There seems to be a reasonable question in his comment. I can't currently find a list of all the signings, but if there aren't many at that level, it seems reasonable to wonder why they paid that much.

 

The teams clearly think they can rank 15 and 16 year olds, otherwise their wouldn't be big bonuses given out, so it isn't that they are not rankable at all.

When you look at dollar amounts and rankings there is no correlation. Hence the problem in the picture is someone believes the rankings mean something.  Unfair. Try cherrypicked numbers for his post

http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/2017-team-team-international-signing-trackers/#QKg194xFZh19rleW.97

[old nurse]

 

has anyone ever claimed that? Ever?

When the poster insinuates that there is something wrong with the dollar amount spent by ranking there would give every appearance of believing the rankings.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

What's wrong with this picture:

 

Ronny Mauricio, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 3 prospect), $2.1 million.

 

George Valera, of, Dominican Republic (No. 5 prospect), $1.3 million

 

Julio Rodriguez, of, Dominican Republic (No. 6 prospect), $1.75 million
 

Jelfry Marte, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 13 prospect), $3 million.


 

One, Jelfry Marte, is staying a SS, arguably the most important defensive position to fill while the other three are not.  Mauricio, Valera, and Rodriguez all have higher offensive projection and physical growth projection which is why BA has them ranked where they do and Marte at 13.  The Twins financially valued a bonafide SS who might develop as a hitter than other clubs.

[gunnarthor]

 

What's wrong with this picture:

 

Ronny Mauricio, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 3 prospect), $2.1 million.

 

George Valera, of, Dominican Republic (No. 5 prospect), $1.3 million

 

Julio Rodriguez, of, Dominican Republic (No. 6 prospect), $1.75 million
 

Jelfry Marte, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 13 prospect), $3 million.


 

Well, on mlb's list Mauricio is #10, Valera is #21 and Rodriguez is #9. Marte is #3. That's probably closer to the industry consensus.

Daniel Flores, #2 on both lists, signed for 3.1m. Franco, #1, got 3.8m. The bigger question, in my mind, is why did Pereira, #4 on both lists, sign with the Yankees for only 1.5m? Are the Yankees doing a Red Sox and funneling him money?