2023 International Class

Given how poor the mlb teams is, I’m even more fixated on the amateur talent acquisitions this year. Any idea as to how much money was spent on this prospect? I guess I thought that they used all of thier remaining money on that Leon kid?

95-98. Money unknown. There is an article about Lin for members on the front page.

Who is the guy shaking the kid’s hand? And where was that photo taken, I see the photos on the wall?

Since I am shakey on Chinese customs and conventions I have a question about the name. I had somehow thought the family name came first and the given name second. That seems to be wrong based upon usage in the article.

I have no idea how serious baseball is set up in Taiwan. What is the MLB Draft League?

I believe the other guy in the photo is the scout who signed him.

In Taiwan, people typically have two first names separated with a hyphen and a family name. The family does come first, but Chinese naming customs typically go out the window in the USA and other western nations for uniformity reasons.

The MLB Draft League was established after MiLB downsized the number of affiliated teams. The league plays 80 games in the summer with the first 30 games featuring college players trying to boost their draft stock. The last 50 games are played by paid players who have no remaining amateur status. All 6 teams are former NY-Penn League teams.

Bling asked:

Who is the guy shaking the kid’s hand? And where was that photo taken, I see the photos on the wall?

I labeled the photo in my article on the home page and his name and title is mentioned in it. It is Matt Slater, who is the special assistant to the GM who among other things, leads the team’s Asia initiatives.

I think the photo was taken in a conference room in Jupiter.

BHC perfectly explained the confusing name custom.

The State College Spikes, the former Cardinals New York-Penn League affiliate, is one of the teams in the MLB Draft League (though he did not play for them).

From the article, Lin pitched in the Under-23 World Cup for Taiwan for several years and also in the collegiate Northwoods League, so was noticed by MLB scouts there for sure. His results playing in college in Taiwan, I don’t know.

He was trained by his uncle, a former MLB pitcher, and the press release mentioned two different agencies involved in his representation. So it seems he had a lot of navigation help.

Lin has been assigned to the FCL team.

Lin was finally just activated in the DSL today.

Hard to tell about long-term prospects, but yes, the W-L records are subpar.

The international program has not done well recently, which is a double disappointment since the two teams were narrowed into one.

On the other hand, turning that into a generic all-encompassing slam of scouting and player development is neither warranted nor backed up with any facts. Rant on!

No, that is a partial view which is inaccurate and misleading. Those are second half records for PB, Peo and Sgf, ignoring their first halves. Triple-A does not play halves so 5-10 for Memphis is not any more meaningful than quoting StL’s record after the All-Star Game.

The correct aggregate record for the system currently is 189-205 (.480).

No, Lopez has not played yet. I have never gotten a definitive answer as to why the second team was eliminated. What follows are my guesses.

There is significant cost savings in having 35 fewer players and the associated staffs to support them. The record of the international program delivering major leaguers hasn’t been all that great, so if anyone was asked for a business case for investment, it may have been difficult to create.

Yes, I have written about more players getting just two years or even less when in the past, many guys were given three or more years in the DSL. Perhaps some future stars will slip through the cracks, but there is no way to know for sure.

One other point. The Cards have two rookie-level teams, one each in the FCL and DSL. Arizona and the Giants have four. 19 other organizations have three. That leaves nine systems with just two teams. The Cardinals are one of the nine.

To add onto that point, the table is much more level now than before.

In the past, it was easier for deeper pocketed clubs to blow out their international signing budgets, which for example, is how Luis Robert got $26 million (plus a $26 million penalty to the White Sox). In today’s world, the most Robert could get would be about $6 million. And in that case, his team would now only be able to sign minimum dollar guys for the rest of that year.

Last year, the Cards did spend big on one guy. The dropped about one-third of their budget on Jonathan Mejia, giving him $2 million. The jury is still out on him, however. Overall, they added just 14 signees. However, it must also be noted that at the same time, they were dropping the second DSL team so had excess players.

This year, they have already signed 29.

Thank you again for your informed insights & some speculation, Brian!

I know for years (maybe 15-20 years ago), the Cards didn’t even really have a presence in Latin America. For a team that eschews high ticket free agents, and quickly reaches a “puke point” when attempting to trade for young stars (to teams that won’t accept 20 cents one the dollar in prospect value and/or in a salary dump), there really is only one way to acquire impact talent… the domestic draft or via the international market. According to Mo, picking in the 20’s means a lack of impact talent (domestically) available in Rd #1. In my admittedly uniformed opinion, L.A. is where the Cards should invest way more $$. 10-15 million more spent (per year) in Latin American infrastructure. scouting & support would seem to yield far more than that same 10-15 million spent on a mid-tier MLB relief pitcher. That’s how the Dodgers and others have a never ending supply of MLB caliber Latin players, supplementing their big ticket free agent spending.