Cards to Sign $1.5 Million Pitcher Carlos Matias
Posted by Jeff in July 2 intn'l signing period, tags: Carlos MatiasThe International prospect market, just when I thought I was free – you pull me back in! The Cardinals are going to sign pitcher Carlos Matias to a $1.5 million contract. Matias is already on the Cardinals DSL roster and has even already made an appearance!
Matias was suspended for a year last March after getting his much smaller deal with the Red Sox nullified. Matias is 18, which is why the Cardinals do not have to wait until July 2nd to sign him.
All the information about Matias is from Ben Badler of Baseball America. First from Twitter:
If the Matias deal with the Cardinals goes through, he might be the best pitcher any team signs this year on the international market.
Now from Badler’s Baseball America Prospects blog:
At 6 feet, 165 pounds, Matias has a loose delivery and an electric fastball that can sit in the mid-90s and routinely hits 97-99 mph, according to several scouts from other organizations. Between the velocity and cutting action on his fastball, it is a true 80 pitch on the 20-80 scouting scale, already one of the best fastballs at any level of baseball.
“He has outstanding control,” said Moises Rodriguez, the Cardinals director of international operations. “People tend to get excited when you see velo in the high-90s, but he’s throwing upper-90s with excellent control.”
Matias’ secondary pitches have received mixed reviews, but he throws an average mid-80s changeup with good arm speed and sink as well as a 78-80 mph curveball that flashes late break.
Hit Ben Badler’s link for more information.
These scouting reports are always taken with a grain of salt, but Ben Badler always does his homework. ”One of the best fastballs at any level of baseball” is something that gets my attention as that is not a line that is heard much in International scouting reports.
UPDATE: Let’s throw an ice cold blanket on the whole proceedings because there obviously is a large chance Matias will not be certified again by MLB.
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So much for voiding Wagner Mateo’s contract having long-term ramifications for our redbirds. Wow!
Not sure why they would say if the deal goes through, he’s already pitched. 3 innings 2 hits 6 strikeouts. I’ve read that the Yankees really wanted this guy. Glad we got him.
@Andrew: The only reason the deal wouldn’t go through would be if he gets shut down by MLB for age issues.
what was the reason for the BOS contract being nullified?
@Wade: Looks to be age issues. Looks like he potentially said he was 16 last year to attract teams.
What I still am confused on – he was suspend for 1 year in march of 2009 when his age and/or name could not be confirm by mlb. So are they trying to confirm the same data, I get the sense he is still presenting himself as the same person with the same birth date. No where have I seen where it says his name or birthdate is different than 1st presented.
You would think hes smart enough to give his real age the second time around after being caught the first time lying.
@Andrew: You would think, especially since he developed the skills to get a 7 figure bonus.
well i hope this deal does go through..sounds like a real good prospect ..hopefully he can stick as a starter ..the cardinals have plenty of good right handed bullpen guys right now in the minors
@Jim: At first glance, it looks like he was presenting himself as 16 last year and 18 this year… but I could be wrong.
Unconfirmed, but here is a video of Matias from last year. It is certainly not very informative, but its something:
http://vimeo.com/3292371
Holy smokesees!
Looks like we just signed “Sugar”.
Is this a good or a bad thing?
Jeff nice little video……can really see the life in his arm. At the end where it shows him holding a baseball. Is that his curveball? Never seen one held like that. The guy increased his signing bonus worth by about 1.4 million you would hope he tells the truth this time. On that note who ended up signing Santos Franco? He was the big pitching prospect we signed 2 years ago but voided his contract on age issues.
BTW just saw the update……why is the update saying that obviously there is a good chance he won’t be certified again? I can’t see someone being dumb enough to lie 2 times especially when they got a huge raise.
Assuming he is 18, would he slide in right behind Shelby as our number 2 prospect, or ahead even?
I think because we don’t know if he will be a starter or reliever he will be behind. Probably top 5 though. With alot of our players graduating to the bigs this year prospect report will be difficult this year.
1. Miller
2. Sanchez
3. Matias? Not sure who else.
I believe Ottavino will stick with the big club this year.
I assume our 1st pick should definitely rank ahead of him and probably at least one of our supp picks. Don’t color me impressed until he starts playing in the states and we see him against better competition. If Lynn can get it together, I would say he’s higher also. Now just waiting for any hitter to step up. And Miller and Sanchez would be higher as well.
@Shi:
Like Wade said, until he gets in the states and actually has some real stats, I’m not buying it. Shelby is clearly our #1 prospect with Miller, Lynn, Jones, Anderson, Sanchez, etc. duking it out for the spots behind him.
If a tightwad like DeWitt shells out $1.5MM big ones, chances are, Sugar Matias’ age is now correct.
@Jeff: I find it strange that BOS would nullify a contract of that little money over one year. Unless his “stuff” just took a huge leap forward after, I would think it would be for some other reason.
nm … read the article … “If Matias can get his visa to come to the United States, the suspension might have turned out to be a positive for him, as his prospect stock soared when he added velocity.”
From what I read is that he has really developed alot in the last year physically. Badler said he has “one of the best fastballs at any level of baseball” Sure stats matter but for a prospect stuff matters more. Miller will be the Top prospect next year but he has athe worst stats out of any QC pitcher. I just don’t see Jones being higher than Matias even right this minute. Same with Anderson. Jones is fighting for time in Class AA.
on a Yankee site it had some information about him when they thought he was someone they would sign back in March. It mentioned he was a shortstop until a couple of years ago and also that the Mariners were banned from signing him because they had “tried to stash him” – whatever that means
@Jim: Stash him means to keep a kid in your camp, out of sight, until he is old enough or otherwise ready to sign.
If the Cards blow a lot of money on Matias, I wonder if this makes it more likely they will go for a position player with their first round draft pick?
We were told last year that the international budget and the MLB draft budget have nothing to do with each other. But that is an interesting question. Matias if he is certified is like a first round talent. I still want Harvey if he’s available. Honestly though there isn’t much strength in the position players that will be available at 25.
Here is my first round mock.
1.) Washington Nationals – Bryce Harper [C; College of Southern Nevada]
2.) Pittsburgh Pirates – Manny Machado [SS; Florida (HS)]
3.) Baltimore Orioles – Jameson Tailon [RHP; Texas HS]
4.) Kansas City Royals – Drew Pomeranz [LHP; Ole Miss]
5.) Cleveland Indians – Chris Sale [LHP; Florida Gulf Coast]
6.) Arizona Diamondbacks – Deck McGuire [RHP; Georgia Tech]
7.) New York Mets – Michael Kvasnicka [C/OF; Minneosta]
8.) Houston Astros – Zack Cox [3B; Arkansas]
9.) San Diego Padres – Michael Choice [OF; Texas-Arlington]
10.) Oakland Athletics – Dylan Covey [RHP; California (HS)]
11.) Toronto Blue Jays – Christian Colon [SS; Cal State Fullerton]
12.) Cincinnati Reds – Yasmani Grandal [C; Miami (FL)]
13.) Chicago White Sox – Bryce Brentz [OF; Middle Tennessee State]
14.) Milwaukee Brewers – Nick Castellanos [3B; Florida (HS)]
15.) Texas Rangers – Brandon Workman [RHP; Texas]
16.) Chicago Cubs – Karsten Whitson [RHP; Florida (HS)]
17.) Tampa Bay Rays – Josh Sale [OF; Washington (HS)]
18.) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Stetson Allie [RHP; Ohio (HS)]
19.) Houston Astros – Delino DeShields Jr. [OF/2B; Georgia (HS)]
20.) Boston Red Sox – Anthony Ranaudo [RHP; LSU]
21.) Minnesota Twins – Alex Wimmers [RHP; Ohio State]
22.) Texas Rangers – Kaleb Cowart [RHP/3B; Georgia (HS)]
23.) Florida Marlins – Brett Eibner [RHP/3B; Arkansas]
24.) San Francisco Giants – Yordy Cabrera [SS; Florida (HS)]
25.) St. Louis Cardinals – A.J. Cole [RHP; Florida (HS)]
26.) Colorado Rockies – Aaron Sanchez [RHP; California (HS)]
27.) Philadelphia Phillies – Justin O’Conner [SS/C; Indiana (HS)]
28.) Los Angeles Dodgers – Matt Harvey [RHP; North Carolina]
29.) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – James Paxton [LHP; Kentucky]
30.) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Seth Blair [RHP; Arizona State]
31.) Tampa Bay Rays – Barrett Loux [LHP; Texas A&M]
32.) New York Yankees – Asher Wojciechowski [RHP; The Citadel]
@Karmaloop:
I’ve love Cole, though his stock has really dropped. Many are speculating he drops out of the first round now. O’Conner wouldn’t shock me honestly.
I’m always leery of Dominican kids until they get age confirmed, get over here in the States and actually do something. They flame out at an extremely high rate, but you can also get some unbelievable uside. I’d like to see them tap into the Cuban defector market a little more, and especially the SS who defected (didn’t see if he had signed yet).
Our first big international signing was Cuban. Ryde Rodriquez. Even with AJ Cole dropping I would be pleased with him He’s got the arm and the body to be a SP.
@Vision:
I have a hard time believing that a big projectable high school righty will fall out of the first round. He’s sitting on a mid 90s fastball that stands to go up a couple of MPH as he continues to fill out his frame. He throws his curveball and it glimpes enough it can be considered a plus pitch, he just needs to work on his control of the pitch. Doesn’t quite understand his change up, but again it has shown some glimpses. There were reports of him having a slider in ’08, but he didn’t really show it this year. He is a project no doubt, which is probably part of the reason he is starting to fall down the board, but he can sit in our farm for a while before we’ll need him up. A future 1-2-3 of Wainwright, Miller, Cole looks awfully promising.
Completely agree……This is why I like him more than Allie. Allies muscular upper body really scares me. There is a reason you don’t see pitchers with big pecs often. It hinders the arm motion. Cole is actually my second realistic choice of pitcher that we should take.
Little worried that in an update to Goold’s article Mo said that the organization is under the impression that he’s 19 while offically he says he’s 18. Born on 9/2/1991 Hopefully it’s Mo getting age wrong and not an inconsistancy.
I believe it’s also possible that the kid himself doesn’t know how old he is. Haven’t we read that birth certificates aren’t automatically issued in the DR?
The Cards worked out a 6’5″ Canadian high school LHP, #193 at BA. He is a tough guy, hockey player & boxer. Working out with the Yanks too. Some team will select him in next weeks draft.
@Andrew:
I started my sentence sying I’d love Cole, obviously I like the kid. I’m merely saying what is reportedly happening with his stock.
I also said I’d like them to tap into the Cuban market more, I never said tap into the market for the first time. I know we signed Ryde Rodriguez.
@Andrew: Yea, I’m confused about the 18 vs. 19 thing as well.
In this draft I don’t think it’s clear what will happen at the bottom of the first round at all, I’m just passing along what BA recently said about Cole. I’d like the kid, and agree he’s projectable, but his stock is definitely dropping. If it hadn’t dropped, there wouldn’t be any way we’d have a shot at him in the first place.
Henry Thompson (Sauce Town, CA): A.J Cole’s stock has undoubtedly fallen, with that being could you potentially see him falling out the first round?
Conor Glassey: It’s certainly possible. First rounders should pitch like first rounders, especially in a two-inning stint, and he didn’t do that the other day in Sebring.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/chat/2010/2610115.html
@Andrew: Here’s the clarification: from the MLB.com article. Matias stands six feet tall and weighs 165 pounds, and has a listed birth date of Sept. 2, 1991, meaning he would turn 19 late this season.
Possibly Mo was advancing his age to later this season?
More from Badler:
Q from a reader: If he sits in the mid 90s and touches the high 90s as a teenager, why didn’t he get more than 1.5 million?
Ben: The issues surrounding his true age and identity limited some teams’ pursuit of him. Believe me, I’m always leery of glowing velocity reports, but these reports came from several different scouts who have seen him recently and on different days.
I still don’t know what to think, but this is rather exciting if it goes through.
Well his scouting report has my two must phrases for a pitcher
“…he’s throwing upper-90s…”
“He has outstanding control…”
I can’t beat this drum enough. The atheletic ability it takes to throw upper 90s with control is predictive of being able to develop and command other pitches.
We should not be signing or drafting kids without both abilities.
BTW, why does MLB see fit to suspend the kid for a year because he lied about his age. If they cant verify what his age is how do they know he is not telling the truth. It make sense to be able void a contract because of false representation, but limiting him from signing another one all together is suspect to me.
I think it all has to do with when they can sign and how old and other things that may be able to get them in trouble legally workwise. I agree lying about age or not knowing it is alot less bad then misrepresenting who you are. BTW we have a very good prospect in DR who will be missing a year because he lied about who he was and he’s actually 2 1/2 years older than he said he was.
BTW I believe Shelby Miller is pitching tonight for Quad Cities and the game is being broadcasted on milb.tv
@BigJawnMize:
I think that suspension is more in place to scare off the kids and their representation from lying. Losing a year of developement at that age is huge (most of the time at least). It doesn’t appear to be working that well, as we hear about a couple of kids every year that do it and get caught.
@Vision:
We (myself and Andrew) aren’t saying you are lying, but right now, like the rest of the draft is pure speculation. Could he fall? Sure, but based on history he won’t fall out of the first round.
@Andrew
At some point there is a line where this steps into fraud. That line is knowing your age and lying about it to obtain a contract.
What occured here is a kid potentially not knowing his age or (him or MLB) having no way to verify his age, so he is guilty until proven innocent.
Thats why I don’t think he has multiple tries. After missing a try a first time he may be banned for life after a second one. No one knows cause it doesn’t seem to have happened yet.
@Karmaloop:
I’m not taking it personal or anything like that, I’m clarifying my position.
If BA thinks it’s possible he could fall out of the first round, I’m not sure we should just dismiss that. What history are you referring to exactly? Draft history? There are lots of high school pitchers who have fallen out of the top 30 picks that had great stuff for various reasons.
Again, I would really like that pick a lot. There is some sentiment for going for a tough sign like an Austin Wilson, or a Castellanos (who isn’t considered a tough sign, and is committed to my beloved Canes). If they don’t sign, take the pick in a much better (at this point) next year.
andrew..thanks for the info for the game on milb.tv for shelby miller..had to buy a subscription for it..was wanting to get it anyways to watch memphis games but might as well do it now so i can get a chance to watch shelby pitch tonight..and a day off for the cardinals too
Sorry to tell you he’s not pitching today, at the beginning of the series they scratched him. It seems like they are trying to build up Justin Smith to be part of a tandem.
Jackpot- The Springfield Cardinals and Gary Daley are on Milb.tv also tonight. Hopefully its a trend that continues other classes being shown. On a side note just heard that Quad Cities is doing away with its radio broadcasts. This is really dissapointing but I will still be able to listen to some of of the games if the other team is broadcasting.
@Andrew: Erik: I’d appreciate a clarification on the update also. Why is there “a large chance Matias will not be certified again by MLB.” What’s the source of this comment? Did you talk to Badler or somebody in the Cardinal FO?
You’d figure the kid would be smart enough to not lie a second time with $1.5M on the table. You’d also figure that after the Mateo experience the Cardinals would cover all the bases on doing their homework.
@RunSup: It’s just in comments of the post Badler wrote on the blog.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed. But I’m banking on the fact the the kid or his handler is smart enough to know that they got very lucky with his value going up so much in hte last year and knowing that 2 strikes may get him banished from baseball.
He pitched in the DSL again tonight for us. Surely the Cards are confident that he will pass his investigation. You would think….right?
He’s allowed to play for the organization without being verifed but can’t recieve his bonus or even come to the US without being verifed. I don’t think the organization would sign someone without thinking he was legit. I hope at least.
Thanks for that info Andrew. I was not aware that he couldn’t recieve his bonus money or even come to the states.
Is it fair enough to say that Matias has lived up to the hype so far?
@Andrew: Has he cured cancer yet? No? Unacceptable.
No, but I heard he travelled back in time and cured polio. So we can credit him with that right? lol
this is the people who discover Matias and yes he is what he is a very good talent from the Dominican Republic, like Pedro Martinez, Henley Ramirez, Albert Pujols and the List can go on for two years so don’t speculate abut Matias until you see hen Pich and yes he is 18 and will make to to the Big show because he express just that. to me about a yer a ago.
[...] going to be rejected, it would have been done already with that kind of history. According to the entry at Future Redbirds when he signed, Matias possesses one of the best fastballs in all of baseball per Baseball America. [...]
Awesome news about the former Mr. Matias (now Martinez?)
Enrique Rojas of ESPN has all the news on Twitter!
Makes this draft year 2010 the tops IMO
http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=1149295&s=bei&type=story