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Post by kinsm on Sept 14, 2015 23:33:36 GMT -5
It's still up in the air if outfielder Eddy Julio Martinez is the second coming of former All-Star outfielder Andruw Jones, as some scouts have said. What's certain is that Martinez has been the center of attention in the international scouting community since he became eligible to sign this past May. "I'm feeling really good right now, and I'm in great shape," Martinez said in Spanish from the Dominican Republic, where he is training. "I'm working hard to get to my goal to play in the Major Leagues. That's what I have always wanted to do." The 20-year-old center fielder, who enters MLB.com's Top 30 International Prospect Rankings in the top spot, left Cuba in November and established residency in Haiti in February. Martinez has been training in the Dominican Republic for the past few months, and he was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball in May. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound outfielder, who played two seasons for Las Tunas in Cuba's Serie Nacional, was eligible to sign during the most recent international signing period but decided to wait until the current period that began on July 2. The Cubs, Yankees, Angels, Blue Jays, Nationals, Rockies, Tigers, Dodgers, Giants, Reds and White Sox are among the teams that have expressed interest in Martinez, according to industry sources. Scouts like Martinez's solid and compact frame along with his athleticism. He has also impressed evaluators with his quick and compact power stroke in the batter's box. Martinez has shown the potential during recent showcases and games to hit home runs to all fields and work the counts. Additionally, Martinez has been described as speedy out of the box. He has also shown basestealing potential and instincts -- a valued quality for players making the transition from Cuba's top league to professional baseball in the United States. Martinez is aggressive -- some describe him as "hard-nosed" -- and is not afraid to take an extra base. On defense, Martinez has shown good instincts and the ability to cover the gaps in the outfield. Those skills, combined with a playable and accurate arm, make scouts believe he will stay in center field and could be in the big leagues after just a couple of seasons in the Minor Leagues. It's impossible to tell if Martinez will be the next Andruw Jones, who made his big league debut at age 19, was a World Series hero as a teenager, played 17 years in the Major Leagues and two more years in Japan. What we do know is that scouts also like that Martinez has experience playing for Cuba's junior national teams in Mexico and Venezuela. How fast Martinez's experience in Cuba and his skill set transfers to professional baseball in the United States is another question. "People say I remind them on Andruw Jones and I'm flattered. I admire him and what he did," Martinez said. "But Mike Trout is my favorite player. He's good on offense and defense. He always has his uniform dirty, and he's really aggressive in all parts of his game. I like to play that style." Sanchez points out that the highly-touted Martinez is expected to command at least a $10MM signing bonus, so if Cincinnati were to sign him, the Reds would far exceed their current international bonus pool and be limited to $300K-or-less signings in each of the next two international signing periods.  |
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Post by The Duke on Sept 15, 2015 1:32:28 GMT -5
The Reds have been solid getting talent out of Cuba, so if they are high on him I hope they don't let going over their international pool stop them. Odds are they wouldn't do much for a couple years anyway internationally, so go for it.
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Post by yorak on Sept 15, 2015 9:01:43 GMT -5
E Mart
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Post by redsfanman on Sept 15, 2015 9:19:11 GMT -5
Most expensive international free agent signings so far:
-RHP Yadier Alvarez signed for $16m (Dodgers)
-SS Lucius Fox for $6m (Giants)
-SS Wander Javier for $4m (Twins)
-OF Vladimir Guerrero Jr for $3.9m (Blue Jays)
-OF Starling Heredia for $2.6m (Dodgers).
The DBacks have the highest bonus pool, at $5.4m. The Reds' bonus pool is $2.9m (and they need to spend a 100% tax on anything spent over that), of which they've already used $1m on OF Christian Olivo and $650k on SS Miguel Hernandez. So, just to put Eddy Julio Martinez's expected $10-11m bonus in perspective, it would be the second largest one handed out this year. The Dodgers have already spent $20.6m this year on bonuses. If the Giants are really after Eddie Julio Martinez they're considering spending over $16m, while the Reds are looking into spending about $12m (plus another $9-10m in tax for going over their limit). If the Reds sign him they'll be the second biggest spenders of this year's international signing period.
If you're going to go over I guess you might as well go big, and go wayyyy over. The Reds wouldn't be able to sign any big international prospects for two years after blowing past the limit, but as The Duke said, if they believe in Martinez... if they think he's worth it, they should go for it. If they think he's worthy of that money and sacrifice, fine with me. They've earned some credibility after Chapman and Iglesias worked out, and spending money on prospects seems like the smart direction for a rebuilding team.
I hope the Reds determine he's worthy of signing, and that they work out a deal.
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Post by jbuck on Sept 15, 2015 11:38:29 GMT -5
He's Cuban and that's a good start
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Post by redsfanman on Sept 16, 2015 8:05:16 GMT -5
The Reds are apparently also looking into 18 year old Cuban CF Yusnier Diaz, who hit .348 with 36 BB and 33 K this season in Cuba. Hopefully the Reds can sign both Yusnier Diaz and Eddy Martinez, as they blow past their spending limit.
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Post by kinsm on Sept 16, 2015 10:25:40 GMT -5
This is a club which doesn't even spend it's total draft pool in order to share in overages. There's probably a 1% chance that they'd go over their international pool and pay a tax and forfeiture of future pools.
Guys who are above the age of 23 and have played 5+ years in Cuba's National Series are a different story all together, they don't warrant a 100% overage penalty.
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Post by crashdavissports on Sept 16, 2015 12:27:20 GMT -5
This is a club which doesn't even spend it's total draft pool in order to share in overages. There's probably a 1% chance that they'd go over their international pool and pay a tax and forfeiture of future pools. Guys who are above the age of 23 and have played 5+ years in Cuba's National Series are a different story all together, they don't warrant a 100% overage penalty. Well, Martinez is only 20 so you must be referring to players in general, not specifically Martinez. |
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Post by kinsm on Oct 4, 2015 16:35:18 GMT -5
Signed with the Giants today, 2.5M$ minor league deal. They will pay a 100 percent tax.
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Post by kinsm on Oct 6, 2015 20:29:24 GMT -5
Giants GM Bobby Evans acknowledged weekend reports of an agreement between his team and Cuban center fielder Eddy Julio Martinez yesterday and said the team was excited about the prospect of finalizing the deal, but ESPN’s Keith Law now reports that the Giants are not signing Martinez,
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Post by kinsm on Oct 8, 2015 20:07:00 GMT -5
The Cubs have reached agreement with Cuban outfield prospect Eddy Julio Martinez, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports on Twitter. He’ll receive the $3MM bonus that he was reportedly seeking.
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Post by The Dude on Oct 8, 2015 20:23:48 GMT -5
The rich get richer.
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Post by redskoolaiddrinker on Oct 9, 2015 11:44:52 GMT -5
I feel very certain this is going to come back to haunt us. |
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Post by crashdavissports on Oct 9, 2015 12:50:22 GMT -5
I am not sure why we couldn't have offered 3.5 million.
I mean, this is the cheapest way to get top talent and keep them for a long period of time.
I mean consider how much Jay Bruce is making this year or Brandon Phillips. 3.5 million is a drop in the bucket for a risk on a prospect of Martinez caliber. Unless we had already spent too much and had no money left.
The Cubs are going to be dangerous for a very long time if they can keep the prospects coming in for pitching. Arrieta is a stud, and they have a couple guys who can pitch, but they need to supply that starting rotation with some talent to be brought up.
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Post by redsfanman on Oct 9, 2015 13:54:58 GMT -5
I am not sure why we couldn't have offered 3.5 million. I mean, this is the cheapest way to get top talent and keep them for a long period of time. I mean consider how much Jay Bruce is making this year or Brandon Phillips. 3.5 million is a drop in the bucket for a risk on a prospect of Martinez caliber. Unless we had already spent too much and had no money left. The Cubs are going to be dangerous for a very long time if they can keep the prospects coming in for pitching. Arrieta is a stud, and they have a couple guys who can pitch, but they need to supply that starting rotation with some talent to be brought up. It's not just the $3m he got, it's $3m to the player plus a 100% tax that the Cubs have to pay to MLB, so the Cubs are basically paying $6m for Eddie Julio Martinez. The Cubs had already blown past their bonus limit, and are already banned for making additional signings of over $300,000 in the next 2 years. The Reds already spent most of their 2015 bonus pool. $1m of their $2.8m pool was spent on Christian Olivo. I guess the Reds want to sign a handful of international free agents in 2016 and 2017, rather than throw $6m at this guy before shutting off that pipeline for the next two years. Is this guy THAT good? If so, why did his demands drop from $10m (plus taxes making him far more expensive) to $3m? I would've been happy to see the Reds sign Eddie Julio Martinez, but at the same time I sure don't see this as some failure or sign of the Cubs' genius. I really doubt an inability to come up with the necessary $6m was the reason the Reds didn't sign him. The Reds will be able to spend another $3m+ in 2016 and 2017, so it's not like his signing with the Cubs changes how much they'll spend in this three year period on international free agents. The Cubs just threw all their cash into this draft class. If the Reds want to do the same next year, fine. |
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