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Well, they traded Arozarena before he contributed to the Cardinals, and Oviedo and Nunez haven’t contributed to the major league club yet. So, I can’t really say they have done well with Cuban ballplayers.
They haven’t done very well with any of the Latino players that they got out of the International pool. I think they’ve changed their strategy, and I’m not positive about this, but I think they used to wait for a certain signing day, and then along with the other clubs, hurry up and sign as many International players as they have money for. Now it looks like they’re out in there in Latin America scouting for players that they think have the best chance, then signing each one that they can. In other words, IMO, they’re looking for talent they can develop rather than listening to the hype and worrying about the players’ demands while waiting for the deadline to sign players.
Aledmys Diaz also came from Cuba, and Adolis Garcia as well. Jonathan Machado was signed from there. That’s all I can think of lately. That’s 4 of the 6 who at least made the major leagues. Whether they helped the Cardinals yet or not (and Arozarena brought Liberatore, who will help the team), I consider their scouting to have been successful in terms of identifying the talent coming from Cuba. So that gives me confidence that this latest signing has a decent shot of working out.
The deadline is artificial. Most of those agreements are made years in advance.
But I agree, it doesn’t seem the Cardinals have done very well in the Latin American market.
So, of the Cuban signings, Diaz has been the most productive for the Cardinals so far…
I don’t think we are thinking of it in the same way. I’m saying that the Cardinals are scouting mostly 16-18, up to 20-21 year olds and signing them to deals years in advance of them ever having a shot to help the team, and so far 4 of the 6 we can think of have turned into major league players (with one more, Nunez, having a good shot to get there as well). The Cards don’t do that well in the draft, nor do any teams, for that matter. So in that sense, having the guys be as successful as they have been means the team has been successful in their scouting.
You are looking at it from the standpoint of whether they have gotten any stars to help the team right now. That’s fine, albeit missing some of the nuance of how low probability it is to get a major league player at all from a given signing or draft pick. Still, it’s not at all what I meant when I wrote my statement.
It will be interesting to see what a 16 year old’s career path looks like with the slimmed down minor league system and no short season levels. I’m not sure we will see any more of the guys with 8 years in the minor league system. How many times will a guy be able to repeat a level before he has to be cleared out to make room for a new guy.
It will be interesting to see what a 16 year old’s career path looks like with the slimmed down minor league system and no short season levels. I’m not sure we will see any more of the guys with 8 years in the minor league system. How many times will a guy be able to repeat a level before he has to be cleared out to make room for a new guy.
Yes, this is going to be a change for sure. The lack of short season teams means the quality of some leagues will improve a bit, some will decline a bit, and you may see players forced to move faster or be moved on from. I’m sure that Brian and others on this site will help point out the trends, which may start to become clear as soon as this year.
The Appy League has morphed into, I think, a collegiate summer wood bat league for college freshmen and sophomores. There was talk last fall of some of the NY-Penn league teams, or at least venues, becoming something similar except for upper classmen. All this might come into play somehow.
The Cardinals philosophy seems to be going with quantity over quality. I guess they figure if they sign 15-20 average players at least one of them will overachieve and become a star.
Our international signings have not bared much fruit. Herrera and Nunez are our only top 50 hitters that we signed. The pitching signings may have more numbers, but only Escobar has fared well at higher levels. That is a glaring hole.
This guy is a BBWAA member and is a report/journalist for MLB dot com in Spanish.
Sources: Cuban RHP Reimi Garcia (19) will sign with the St. Louis Cardinals when the next international signing period opens on January 15, 2022. The deal bonus is around $ 400,000 K. Fastball 93-94, plus slider/curveball and change-up. He left Cuba in March 2020. pic.twitter.com/PGBhzebyGE
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) August 9, 2021
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