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We have agreed to terms with 17 free-agent players on the first day of the 2023 international signing period, highlighted by RHP Reiner Lopez. pic.twitter.com/OHtBOd4RkQ
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) January 15, 2023
Here is a more detailed list:
Here's the list of dudes the Cardinals signed today, international signing day: pic.twitter.com/I5DWC5qopb
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) January 15, 2023
Found this article on Menes.
Per MLB.com
In addition to Lopez at $500,000
Cardinals
Bracewell Taveras, SS, D.R. — $450,000
Ruben Menes, RHP, D.R. — $400,000
Angel Gil, OF, D.R., $375,000Back to quantity over quality. The Cardinal international system is badly in need of overhaul.
The results of the Cardinal approach is clear. They have no international prospects in their top 5 and none in the MLB Pipeline top 100. Meanwhile there are 9 international prospects in the top 17 on the MLB list. There are 25 international prospects in their top 100. The Cardinals have only 2 home grown international players on their 40 man roster.
The current international system is like a second draft. The Cardinals highest rated signee is ranked 36th best. That is like waiting until the middle of the second round of the draft to select someone.
The days of finding diamonds in the rough are fading away with all of the technical tools now available to scouting. You have to compete for the top talent and the system allows the freedom to spend what you need to do that without getting ovewhelmed by the rich teams.
There are four sources of talent available to major league teams. Draft, Trades, Free Agents and International. The Cardinals have 6 players on the MLB top 100. Five from the draft (Walker, Winn, Hence, Burleson and Graceffo). One (Liberatore) from trades. No free agents and international. That is like trying half as hard as your competitors.
Mo is sitting back with a lackluster international program, making crappy free agent decisions and counting on the draft to bail him out. You do have to give him a better grade in trades for landing Goldschmidt and Arenado but how much of that was due to the Cardinal tradition. But he also gave up the current Cy Young winner and another front line starting pitcher to get Marcel Ozuna.
It was good to get Contreras but it was like we turned out the lights and shut down for the offseason after that signing.
Sooner… that’s saying it all.
Some might not consider Edman, Burleson, Nootbaar and Helsley diamonds in the rough but they are damn well shiny.
Maybe the idea is to maximize our chances of ending up with solid complimentary pieces rather than going all in trying for an impact player.
Excluding Edman. The others need to show they are as consistent as Edman before they can be grouped with him.
https://redbirdrants.com/2016/07/02/st-louis-cardinals-international-signings/
how quickly we forget even overspending on the top tier talent is a total crap shoot in the international market. I prefer the strategy of spreading the pool money out. 16-17 year old baseball players are kind of like 18 year old hockey players in the draft. No real clue what you are getting as they are still growing. You just hope the tool box may have something in it. Overall I’ve been pleased with our strategy. The six year and rule 5 thing seems to be what hurts the most. I kind of think the clock shouldn’t start until 18 years of age.
“Wonder why the Stros backed off Menes”
Doesn’t look like they capped out. I haven’t found any articles either. No idea.
Nate, so far it stinks. But this year’s activity indicates they are sticking with it. I doubt the strategy will change unless the wonks get dropped over the side chained to their computers.
So making bad decisions cause you to stop trying. If you look at the bios of the MLB top 100 many of the international players who made the list were also top prospects. In fairness some diamonds in the rough made it too.
Bottom line the quantity vs quality and waiting until the players get older is not providing the level of talent that many of our competitors are getting. And it will get worse as scouting get even more tools to evaluate prospects. Our top guy is Herrera (MLB #8 in Cardinals top 10) and the Cardinals didn’t even take long to send him back out even with Yadi’s injuries and Knizner’s weak bat.
Hoping to get lucky is the underlying strategy here. Those guys are signed when they are 16 or 17, which means evaluators are looking at what they did when they were 15 or 16. The whole concept is absurd. Like putting on a blindfold and play pin the tail on the next superstar. I think that Mo should use the international money to buy lottery tickets. If he hits a jackpot, use the winnings to sign a legit superstar free agent. It would save a ton of organizational time and resources expended on kids going nowhere.
Anybody know anything about the 30th ranked international prospect, Tony Ruiz, OF, D.R.? No one has signed him nor did he have a team associated with him before the signing period. Don’t know if we have any money left, but he could turn into something!
Brian, any intel on him?Happened to see this re Ruiz:
“Boston has also been linked to Dominican outfielder Tony Ruiz, who is MLB Pipeline’s No. 30 prospect in this year’s class.”
Sooner – I’m lost on one thing. You say there are 4 ways to get players (draft, trade, free agent, and international signings) and the Cardinals don’t have any free agents or international signings in the Top 100. How could you have a free agent in the Top 100?
Is this true? It says we signed Braylin Paulino for $165,000.
I don’t know Cardsfan64, but I watched some profiles and he was being clocked at 93-94 and his curve and change up had 10 mph of difference. I couldn’t find any other source saying he signed with the Cardinals though.
Gomez has broken international signings previously so I dont have a reason to doubt him. He’s a good source, like Passan.
Brian, I noticed that all the International signings were listed on the Cards transaction page except Xavier Cruz. Could this be an oversight or maybe a delay in the actual paperwork of signing him? Paulino has never been mentioned by the Cards, either. Is this normal with International signings?
There can be delays in securing background and medical checks. Not everyone is on the same schedule. I wouldn’t be concerned about two weeks.
The team does not necessarily announce all international signings. The only ones that usually draw attention are the big batch of them on the opening day of the signing period.
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