Archive for the “International signings” Category

This week the Cardinals signed 16 year old right-handed pitcher Ronald Medrano out of Nicaragua.  They must have used the money from the failed signing of Andres Serrano.  Medrano is considered one of the top pitching prospects this year in Nicaragua and is part of the July 2nd class.  No word on the bonus for Medrano.  Analysis and video after the jump.

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Per Ben Badler at Baseball America

The biggest signing splash of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2012 international signing pool has had his contract officially invalidated and has been hit with a one year ban from signing a contract with a major league team.

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With the second signing inside of a week, the Cardinals are picking up a lefty by the name of Erick Hurtado. Ben Badler has additional details and a scouting report.

Baseball America has the details. The Cardinals are dropping a nice chunk of change on Serrano ($750k) as the first major post-Luhnow acquisition.

There has been something which has been bouncing around my mind for a few weeks and I wanted to see if I could put the proverbial pen to paper and post it for the site as it involves the player development pipeline for the Cardinals.  International free agency is a market which has already shaped the face of Major League Baseball and will shape the face even more of baeball for the next century or so and it is something that the Cardinals should be making plans about to get ahead of their peers.

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This time it’s a SS from Venezuala:

#Cardinals get approval from MLB for deal with Venezuelan SS Leobaldo Pina. He received bonus around $300,000. More deals pending. #stlcards

per Derrick Goold

Per Dominican Prospect League via MLBTR

16 year old RHP signed for $66k drawing comparisons to Leo Nunez and you probably won’t hear his name again for another 2-3 years.

According to Dejan Kovacevic (via MLBTradeRumors) the Cardinals have scheduled Sano for a workout.  He’s the big name in the Latin market right now as a 16 year old shortstop.  Some estimates of his eventual bonus have been as high as $4 M but I’d expect something more in the $2.5-$3M range, which still is first round of the draft type money.

While this is encouraging, I’d be completely shocked to see the Cardinals sign this kid.  Expect them to make plays for other highly talented Latin players but avoiding those with bonuses demands this high.