ace3113

I prefer Diplan. He's not as projectable, but he has more now stuff, and a feel for 3 pitches. Seeing what Urias is doing this year for the Dodgers, or even Osuna for us with their advanced stuff pushes me towards the more polished guy. Perez has also not made as much progress in the past year as one would hope. He's still sitting mostly 88-90, and neither his command nor his secondaries have progressed much since his performance at the PG Classic. My wishlist probably goes. 1) Luis Encarnacion (3B) / Leonardo Molina (OF) *Yes, I know he's probably going to the Yankees. 2) Yeltsin Gudino (SS) / Luis Asuncion (OF) 3) Roni Tapia (3B) / Jeremias Portorreal (OF) I'd also consider taking a flier on Obispo Aybar-Lara. Best shortstop actions in the class. 5 loud tools. Won't be able to play till he's 19 cause of suspension. In fact, I think we have 800k from voiding our contract with Luis Castro last year. I'm wondering if we can offer that to him right now since he's 19, and not 16 like the other July 2 guys.

Maybe the reason we're not being connected to any other players (other than Gudino) is because we've zeroed in on Tseng. It's wild conjecture at this point but would be interesting. Gudino is expected to sign for close to 1mm which would give us 1.9-2mm to offer Tseng. Not saying I want him over some of the other IFA's but I can't read AA's twisted-ish mind. If we're going for a pitcher I might prefer Diplan.

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 1h Still hearing them on Gudino RT @SJE32 Jays seem to be unusually absent in rumored signings. True or just stealthy. Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 1h Twins, Indians, Cubs & Dodgers scouts have been active in Asia. Will one of them be the team that signs Jen-Ho Tseng? http://bit.ly/12mkYMP

Ibid:

BA'S scouting reports on our top picks:

Baseball America article on our picking Bickford:

http://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=49773 He's the catcher we need, but also the one we deserve.

What sucks is last year we signed 3 top names: #1 Franklin Barreto (1.45mm), #9 Luis Castro (800k), and #13 Richard Urena (757k). Castro's contract was voided cause he failed the physical, but I'm not sure if we redistributed that 800k on anyone. The player I want most this year is Luis Encarnacion. He's the best offensive prospect in this class IMO. He's has the look of a guy who's going to hit for power and average, and he hits in games right now. I don't even care if he sticks at 3rd or not, I want that bat. Here's the scouting report from Sickel's site: If we can get him and Gudino I'll be pretty happy with our haul. From the video and reports I've seen I also really like outfielders Luis Asuncion and Jeremias Portorreal, and infielder Roni Tapia. They all have really pretty swings, and look like they can hit in games (Asuncion already has).

I hope not. There's a ton of other guys I'd love to sign. I hate these new bonus rules. We'd be signing 4-5 of these guys without them.

There's stuff on Perez at that link I believe. I had limited word space so I tried to keep the post as short as possible.

Since a pictures worth a thousand words, here's some videos of the players in question. Updated videos and scouting reports at the link. http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/6/11/4259454/2013-international-free-agents-updated-rankings-video Eloy Jimenez, OF, 6'4" 200lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic Mayky Perez, RHP, 6'5" 210lbs, Dominican Republic Rafael Devers, 3B, 6'0" 185lbs, L/R, Dominican Republic Luis Encarnacion, 3B, 6'2" 185lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic Marcos Diplan, RHP, 5'11" 165lbs, Dominican Republic Virgilio Jose Almonte, OF, 6'4" 205lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic Willy Castro, SS, 6'0" 150lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic Carlos Herrera, SS, 6'0" 145lbs, L/R, Venezuela Jefferson Mejia, RHP, 6'7" 220lbs, Dominican Republic Carlos Hiciano, SS, 6'2" 175lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic Rafelin Nunez Guzman, C, 6'1" 195lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfN5n6GhVXk Lucas Tirado, SS/2B, 6'2" 175lbs, S/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duedlpHY_4g Leonardo Molina, OF, 6'3" 165lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHel-sJBfhg Johnny Sims, OF, 6'3" 175lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJaH5rDIMuE Bryan Lizardo, 3B, 6'1" 185lbs, S/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkVHABzZ0A8 Eduard Pena, OF, 6'1" 200lbs, L/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTvALbrRF_I Yeffri Deaza, SS, 6'0" 170lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX6H3isoHcg Luis Asuncion, OF, 6'3" 180lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZRjoPq9CJo Roni Tapia, 3B, 6'3" 175lbs, R/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JVWLZhnCT0 Jeramias Portorreal, OF, 6'2" 180lbs, L/L, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqMBTi-qCzU Ronald Rosario, OF, 6'2" 160lbs, L/L, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxNs1twzQp0 Michael De Leon, SS/3B, 6'1" 160lbs, S/R, Dominican Republic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulkkCXvzLZQ

Admin edit. Had to delete due to complaint from author.

Miguel Alfredo González Puebla Bats Right, Throws Right Height 6' 2", Weight 185 lb. Miguel A. González was 14-14 with a 4.66 ERA in his first four seasons, though 2007-2008. The young right-hander then took a big step forward, going 8-4 with a 2.86 ERA. He was 4th in the league in innings pitched (126), 4th in strikeouts (101) and was 7th in ERA. He was second in ERA on a strong La Habana staff which featured national team members Yulieski González, Jonder Martínez and Yadier Pedroso. He was even better in the postseason, winning five games. In game five of the Serie Nacional finals, he tossed a 5-hit shutout against Villa Clara to give La Habana its first pennant in three decades. He was named postseason MVP. González went 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA in the 2009 World Port Tournament, fanning 12 and allowing only 8 hits in 16 innings; he won a 1-0 duel against former AA hurler Diegomar Markwell and later shut down Japan. In the finale, he was not as sharp against the Dutch national team, giving up a second-inning run then a 2-run homer by Sidney de Jong in the 6th; he left with a 3-3 tie but Cuba rallied to win as Maikel Folch provided strong relief. For the tourney, Miguel was 5th in ERA, 2nd in WHIP (behind Folch), tied for 4th in strikeouts and tied for first in wins (even with Folch, Rob Cordemans, Syogo Suenaga and Yaumier Sánchez).

I'm not sure but the usual suspects are after him (Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, Texas).

Ooops. I thought I posted it.

#75 in the video.

So far AA has missed the boat on Chapman, Puig, Soler, and Cespedes and spent heavy on Hechavarria:rolleyes:. Now I don't know if this Gonzalez guy is any good, but AA better be doing his freakin due diligence, in case he is. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=49837998&vkey=news_mlb&ymd=20130606

I'm not sure if Hollon signed for slot or not. That article seems misleading. It has no source (even an anonymous one). It just states what the slot value for that pick is and assumes he's getting it. On the other hand I hope this report was just a smoke screen from Bickford's camp cause it sounds pretty ridiculous.

I read on MLB TRADE RUMORS that he can't sign until February.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/marten-gasparini-15-might-be-europes-best-prospect-ever/ Italian shortstop one of the Top International Prospects for 2013.

Ibid:

And more:

Continued:

Ibid:

Some sites with info and video of many of the top prospects for July 2, 2013. So far the Blue Jays are linked to Venezuelan shortstop Yeltsin Gudino. http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/ten-international-prospects-to-watch-for-july-2/ http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/4/24/4259466/2013-international-free-agents Some other names of interest: