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Hindsight is always 20/20. In retrospect, Luis Robert was probably worth the Cards going higher than the $52M that he ended up signing for. Wish they had both Tatis Jr and Robert, but it didn’t work out.
Many of us said at the time the Cardinals should have pressed harder on Robert. He looks to be a budding star. The Cardinals had a real opportunity at that time because of a lot of the big teams had maxed out that year, but oh well, we just have to move on. Overall, drafting and developing is not a problem for this organization.
Many of us said at the time the Cardinals should have pressed harder on Robert.
That’s true. It actually seemed for a while that the Cards were the favorite for him. But the White Sox swooped in with the catchy video and the pitch that they had an up and coming team, and he was swayed. I guess that’s life. Hopefully Carlson, Torres, Gorman, etc can make us forget about the misses.
It clearly is not the Cardinals way to risk more than $52 million on an overseas teenager. To be honest, at the time I was amazed they stayed in it that long. Just to put this into context, in their entire history, before and since, the Cardinals have never spent as much as $3 MM on any international teen.
Gorman is the team’s top draft spend I can find at $3.231 MM. That is 1/16th of Robert’s commitment. 16 Gormans or one Robert? (I do recognize that it is not an exact tradeoff. I am simply pointing out the comparative financial magnitude of what it would have taken to get Robert.)
A number of teams dropped a lot of money on failed international players in that tine, but Robert looks to be the real deal. Coulda shoulda woulda… Do I wish they would have signed him? You bet. Am I angry at them for not? Not really. They made a business decision.
I do know with a high level of certainty that the second-guessers would have been all over the Cards had they signed Yasmany Tomas ($68.5 MM) or Rusney Castillo ($72.5 MM) or other international busts… We conveniently overlook them. This is a risky market but it is easy for us to spend OPM*.
As noted, hindsight is always 20-20.
* Other Peoples’ Money
I dont think we conveniently overlook them. And their potential careers could have been entirely different in the Cardinals system (on both sides)
We passed on Chapman, Cespedes, R.Iglesias, Robert, Gourriel Jr and brother, Puig, Lazarento?, Soler, Soto too…yes we didnt swing for Castillo or Tomas…but Tomas and Castillo werent that bad when they started out…and as i said in a different organization you never know what can happen…
I saw that interview by Jesus Ortiz today with Tatis Sr, saying that Tatis jr has something like 17 tryouts with the Cardinals and they passed every time…then the White Sox finally took him and flipped him to SD..
It may be “other people’s money”…but gambling on talent is a major part of this game and while you may end up with a couple of duds…looking at the impact of most of the BIG time international prospects I think they outweigh the negatives
Cespedes Jr is the big guy right now right? Could he flame out? sure…but why not gamble on him?
Cardinals seem more than willing to gamble on aging MLBers and prep and college kids…but when they have to stick their neck out with the cash for a foreign prospect they seem to flinch more than go all in….
I’d happily take a couple “mistake” signings like Fukodome or K Matsui or Daisuke, if that meant i also got Ohtani, and HMatsui or Ryu, Maeda, Tanaka
Give me Tatis Jr, AChapman, Robert…and I’ll happily take the Tomas and Castillo too…
don’t tell me the loss of money outweighs the impact financially of producing young superstars and their performance on the field
Just remember that some number of the 29 other teams badly wanted those free agents too. Some have deeper pockets. The Cardinals’ strategy – like it or not – is to spread their money around.
They still found guys like Taveras, Reyes, Martinez and others. But they never have signed the big names and unless they change their strategy, they probably won’t in the future. Now that there is a cap, the big money signings have dried up across the game.
An international draft won’t help much either because the Cardinals would have to pick later, just as in the regular draft.
The Sox also signed Robert to a 6 year, $50 million extension before he ever reached the big leagues. So $102 million on a guy who just played his first MLB games…seems like a lot. I guess if he’s the next Betts or Bellinger, it will pay off.
First signings in this delayed international period can be formalized this Friday, January 15.
#StlCards plan to sign a handful of players Friday when the "July 2" int'l market opens after the delay, and several are shortstops. The group is expected to include highly regarded infielder ADARI GRANT from the Bahamas. Working to confirm others for preview story @stltoday.
— Derrick S. Goold (@dgoold) January 13, 2021
Adari Grant (Bahamas) is by far the youngest kid out here showing ⚡️in his bat. #MLB pic.twitter.com/LmAMwFAg4o
— Prospect Wire (@ProspectWire) July 27, 2019
Grant was not listed among MLB pipeline’s top 30, but was listed in an article that featured a top 5 and “best of the rest” group.
https://www.mlb.com/news/top-30-international-prospects-2020
Per this signing tracker, the Cards have signed 7 international players so far, including Adari Grant. He is the only one they have a scouting report on, so I assume he’s the only one who’s a top prospect right now.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2020-21-mlb-international-signings-tracker/
For reference, last year the Cardinals made a press release in the evening, formalizing their list. We will see how today goes…
An international preview for the Cards. Seems like the C Leonardo Bernal from Panama is also a well thought of player.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/st-louis-cardinals-2020-21-international-signing-preview/
Matt Thompson joined me for a detailed signing story on these 15 signees for members now running on the home page, with more information being added as it is coming out.
Here is the bare bones info…
We have agreed to terms with 15 free-agent players as part of the 2020-21 international signing period, highlighted by Bahamas native SS Adari Grant and Panamanian switch hitting C Leonardo Bernal. pic.twitter.com/p8eMPrWUxT
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) January 15, 2021
Nice to see that MLB has completed implementing its stimulus package for Latin America (with the fans’ money, of course).
Does anybody know how much of the international bonus pool the Cardinals have spent? I see roughly $2.2 million, but that is for 5 of the 15 players they have apparently signed, and they have a pool of $5.8 million available…
Sources: deal is for $767,000 with the Cardinals, with $75,000 more available for school. Appears that’s the rest of the Cards’ money for the present signing period.
And since it’s 2021, his camp has released a hype video announcing the decision: pic.twitter.com/eGroprDQ9Y
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) March 27, 2021
An interesting signing. The Cards seem to do well with their signings out of Cuba, so let’s hope Piño is the next one to race through the Cards system. I can’t seem to find a lot on the guy, and it seems like he wasn’t ranked for this class, which may be more of a function of him not being expected to sign in this FA year than his talent.
The Cards seem to do well with their signings out of Cuba
Which Cuban signings have then done well with?
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