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The Cardinals officially made two more international signings last week. One noted earlier in this thread and another out of the blue! From their transaction page:
02/10/23 St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent C Paulo Asprilla to a minor league contract.
02/10/23 St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent RHP Brailyn Paulino to a minor league contract.Both have been assigned to the DSL roster.
Cardinals made another international signing today as 18-year-old Cuban left-hander Yadiel Batista joins the organization.
The Cardinals spent $255,000 of on Batista but they still have plenty of bonus pool money to work with. https://t.co/ipqbpgLOx3
— Blake Newberry (@bt_newberry) March 24, 2023
Not exactly Cards related but it is related to the international signing issues MLB is facing. The details in the story are disgusting. In summary: Trainer signs a 10-year old kid for $80,000 and in return his parents agree to give up half the signing bonus when/if he signs in 2029.
Source: Cuban SS/OF Luis Manuel León (16) is expected to sign in the coming days with the St. Louis Cardinals. Signing bonus is close to $1 M. Luis Manuel is the brother of Pedro León, Houston Astros prospect.
Other teams also made offers for León above $1M range but to sign… pic.twitter.com/hHqkomp4yk
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) May 29, 2023
I break that down for members.
The #STLCards are expected to sign a 16-year-old Cuban shortstop/outfielder for close to a million dollars. I summarize the organization's 2023 international spending to date and what they may have left. ($) https://t.co/dRviYsOCfK pic.twitter.com/dfa9gGIulW
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) May 30, 2023
Hey Brian, who is this guy from the transaction page? Have you heard of him?
05/20/23 St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent RHP Jefferson Moran to a minor league contract.
Hadn’t heard of him before, but becoming 19 years old in a few weeks means he has a long climb ahead in a relative hurry. Thanks for pointing him out.
Brian, I was checking the MiLB short season rosters online to see if anu updates had been made since the new season is about to start (no changes made yet!) and came across a name I wasn’t familiar with. The DSL roster included RHP Justin Hernandez:
April 20, 2023 St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent RHP Justin Hernandez to a minor league contract.He is 18, so not a super young signing out of the DR. Any scuttlebutt you know about this guy?
When do the new rosters get released for FCL and DSL?I missed Hernandez. Short-season rookie ball begins this coming Monday, June 5. We are planning team previews for FCL and DSL.
Brian, A few more new names popped up on the transaction lists for the DSL team.
February 18, 2023 – St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent RHP Kener Perez to a minor league contract.
February 18, 2023 – St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent C Chris Lopez to a minor league contract.
February 18, 2023 – St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent C Heriberto Caraballo to a minor league contract.I’m confused with the info MiLB has on Lopez. They say he was born in New York, but assigned to DSL. Any insight on these names?
I think MiLB back dates some of these transactions when either the Cardinals get the info to them late or they don’t have time to get to it on the actual transaction date.I’m confused with the info MiLB has on Lopez. They say he was born in New York, but assigned to DSL. Any insight on these names?
If you recall Alex Reyes was born in the US but moved to the DR so he could go professional sooner. Probably a similar thing with Lopez?
Also, the transaction pages finally list Xavier Cruz as having signed but his date is listed June 3, eventhough the Cards announced his signing with their initial batch back in January.
Another one slipped through without any fanfare.
06/03/23 – St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent RHP Xavier Cruz to a minor league contract.
Never mind, already on the roster. My bad!
When should we expect to see León report? Would he be going to the DSL? And would it be later this summer?
Welcome, bigchill. Usually the due diligence work takes multiple weeks, but there is never a set schedule. At 16 years of age, it seems likely he would be activated in the DSL once cleared.
Hi- I’m new here. I have a couple of questions that I can’t seem to find the answers to:
Can someone please explain why the Cards downsized from two DSL teams to one? Strictly money savings? An indication of a “de-investment” in Latin America-focusing more on other markets (Asian)?
Did the new CBA eliminate the cards form receiving a Comp pick, moving forward, due to their market size & revenue? Just trying to figure out why they received a Comp pick in 2020 & 2021, but not 2022 or 2023. Since I’m guessing that the city of St Louis didn’t become larger market overnight, does the formula for awarding Comp picks currently weigh more heavily on revenue (i.e. the Cards strength)?
Thank you in advance for any insight you can offer!
Hi Gronky,
Welcome to the board.
I can’t answer the first question. My guess is that it was both talent dilution and money savings.
But as for your second question, yes, the new CBA did strip the Cardinals of their competitive balance pick due to team revenue. The Cubs had been griping for years about the Cardinals pick, and they finally got it taken away from the Cardinals.
I have a question to add along with Gronky’s. At various times in the past I have heard of an International Rookie Reserve List, which can have 35 players in addition to the 35 on the roster of a DSL team. Is that still a thing, and if so, what is it for and how does it work?
Those are both really good questions Gronky that each may take some speculation.
I think you are more or less right on the first one but not just solely because of the money. I think they looked at it and decided that they really were signing only so many prospects that they had confidence in and the rest were filler. So they could get by with signing just the ones they really wanted and still get the same results plus save some cash. They could always revert back to 2 teams in the future if they suddenly decide that there is a deeper group of talented players available to them.
I’m not sure on the 2nd question either and would like to know. I’ve heard there was some resentment that existed with other teams that felt like the Cardinals shouldn’t qualify for those picks because they have such a large fan base and great attendance. Essentially, they were reaping the rewards because of the exact rules but those rules weren’t really meant to benefit a team like the Cardinals so they got pushed out in the new deal. But I’m not really sure and I’m not sure anyone is going to quite tell it straight.
I can’t thank you folks enough, both for the warm welcome as well as in the insight!
I worry that the Cards may miss out on slower developing players, due to the higher turnover rate in their DSL team. With only one team available & bringing in 15-20 new prospects each year, means that 15-20 guys have to go. Does having only one team mean that they might cut bait much sooner, even prematurely? There’s plenty of instances where guys didn’t develop until they were 20-21 vs. 18-19. I always defer to what the Dodgers do, as the pioneers & leaders in international player procurement & development.
Yeah, now that you mention it, I do recall The Epstein, while Cubs GM, complaining about the Cards getting comp picks. Now that he works for MLB, perhaps he played a role?
Thank you again for the insights!
Lin, 21, pitched in the MLB Draft League this year, posting a 3.24 ERA over 16.2 innings pitched. He represented Taiwan at the U-23 Baseball World Cup in both 2022 and 2021.
The 6'7" pitcher will soon report to the Cardinals Jupiter complex to begin his professional career. pic.twitter.com/v8WDv1ILJp
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 3, 2023
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