Archive for the “Santo Franco” Category

Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription only) is doing a division by division approach in looking at what teams did during the international signing period. As it turns out, the Cardinals spent a total of $2,685,000 in international players, the sixth highest figure among major league clubs. The Reds outspent all the teams, putting an astounding $5,705,000 towards signing Latin American players.

It seems crazy to see the Cards outspending teams like the Mets and Red Sox on international players, but that is what they did. Looking around the division, the Pirates spent $1.2M, the Astros spent a little over a million, the Cubs spent just $250K, and the Brewers spent nothing, oddly enough.

It’s definitely an encouraging sign to see the Cardinals investing in top shelf talent.

For more on the signings, Jeff Luhnow was nice enough to provide scouting reports on the players signed back in July. You can find them here.

One of the names missing from the article is OF Gerwuins Velazco, who also signed for a six-figure bonus. Can’t say I know anything about him…