Article: Twins Tied to Misael Urbina, Expected to be “Aggressive” Internationally

[Cody Christie]

Finding the next international star is a goal of a lot of clubs in the coming months. Teenage players start building relationships with different scouts from a variety of clubs. From those relationship, young players sign for money that can change their familys' lives. Current Twins regulars like Miguel Sano and Max Kepler were originally signed as international players.

 

With the international signing period approaching later this summer, Twins fans can expect the club to aggressively go after one of the top-ranked prospects.Who is Misael Urbina?

Minnesota is considered the favorites to sign Misael Urbina. To give a brief answer to the question above, he is a 15-year old outfielder from Venezuela. Scouts have called him an advanced hitter with an above-average hit tool and plus speed. MLB.com ranks him as the third overall prospect in their international class and they have plenty of positive things to say about him. He is a “line-drive hitter with a high baseball IQ.” They went on to say, “he’s already an advanced defender for his age.” They praised his instincts and makeup.

 

One of the reasons he has been able to vault to the top of the class is because of his international experience. He has been taking part in the Venezuelan Winter League’s parallel program. This allows the young outfielder to to compete against professional players with more experience than he has.

 

Baseball America has been following Urbina for some time. In February, MLB held a Venezuelan Showcase and Urbina was the only player to hit the ball over the fence during batting practice. At 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, there is room for him to grow into his frame. However, BA said “his swing gets in and out of the hitting zone quickly, but he has good bat speed.” In one of the games being scouted, Urbina beat out an infield single in 4.20 seconds.

 

Other Baseball America scouts said, his “athleticism sticks out in center field. A plus runner, Urbina showed a quick first step, gliding around the outfield with good instincts.” The same person went on to say, he “isn’t a pure hitter, but he has good bat speed and drove the ball for hard contact to all fields during BP.”

 

Baseball America has video of him hitting at an

 

Expected to Be Aggressive

MLB.com believes the Twins are one of a handful of teams that will “be aggressive” during this signing period. Minnesota’s bonus pool for the current year is $6,025,400. That total ties them with other clubs like Miami, Milwaukee, and Tampa Bay. Team can also trade for an additional 75 percent of their bonus pool allotment. Since the Twins have just over $6 million, they could trade and end up with $10,544,450 in their final pool amount.

 

During the Shoehi Ohtani sweepstakes last winter, the Twins missed out on the big prize. However, they were able to make multiple deals to send some of their international bonus pool money to other teams. Minnesota acquired catcher David Banuelos from the Mariners in exchange for $1 million in international bonus pool cap space. They also acquired outfielder Jacob Pearson from the Angels for the same amount of space.

 

Banuelos has played 12 games for Cedar Rapids, where he is four months younger than the competition. So far this season, he’s hit .143/.234/.214 with 16 strikeouts and 4 walks. His only extra-base hit was a home run. Jacob Pearson is in extended spring training and has yet to appear in a game for the Twins system.

 

Are you excited about the Twins adding a highly ranked prospect like Urbina? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

 

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[Mike Sixel]

Didn't the braves prospect they signed count against this coming year?

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Didn't the braves prospect they signed count against this coming year?

That's how I remember it.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Didn't the braves prospect they signed count against this coming year?

 

Yes, I assume that $2.5 million can be removed from the $6.025 million. 

[Doctor Wu]

Sounds like he has an impressive set of skills, but his being only 15-years-old I'm not sure how much enthusiasm I can muster at this point.

[Vanimal46]

See you in 2028, Urbina.

[mickeymental]

can they get him in tonight's starting lineup?

[drock2190]

Anyone see the studs the Braves been promoting to the majors? When will it be our turn??! 

 

Acuna, Soroka, Albies, Swanson. Add in a prime Freeman, that's an exciting rebuild! 

 

 

Don't forget about Suzuki, either He's crushing it!

[rdehring]

 

Yes, I assume that $2.5 million can be removed from the $6.025 million. 

That takes them down to about $3.5mm, Seth.  Unless there are a lot of other big spenders with less money or the Twins find a good chunk in a trade, expect the kid talked about above is not in the cards.

 

They may still be very active, but may be looking at a good number of prospects in the $200,000-$600,000 range.