We competed for a prospect monetarily and won over the mighty Dodgers! Why does that not even register a heartbeat, as we have a good track record for winning 16-17 year old IFA's, but it NEVER translates to the MLB club.
Even better, *nobody* has what could be considered a "good" track record of IFA's. At least not any sort of consistency.
I'm well past the days of giddiness over Luis Heredia, but you gotta at least acknowledge that this IFA period will represent their largest ever acquisition of what could be considered at this crazy-early stage of human development to be "elite" talent.
A point worth noting: Everybody knew the Sasaki situation would lead to this sort of thing. The Pirates can't have been the only team that figured this out (which may be why they had to go to 1.8M). But they were the team that managed to jump on this particular opportunity. Maybe a good sign from the new director of int'l scouting.
More from "Baseball Wit and Wisdom" to hold us over as we slooowly trudge toward spring training:
"Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like, except in the umpire's eye or on the ball." Jim Murray, LA Times, 1962 (when some people still thought the curveball was an optical illusion!).
I think it's a lock that the dodgers would figure a way to get Sasaki whether within the rules or not. Mlb really needs to figure a way to do an international draft. The international $$ is meaningless when the same teams each year manage to get the best talent even with lesser $$$ available.
It’s one of the million things MLB does poorly. The age restriction is currently 25 (basically) for players from Asia. Being under 25, Sasaki is a free agent in that he can sign with any team he wishes. But only at their International Signing Bonus budget. I believe the signing team will still have 6+ years of control with minimal salaries and then the arbitration process.
There’s no reason MLB couldn’t make player like this subject to a/the draft.
There’s also no reason they couldn’t make the system more in favor of MLB and less in favor of the Japanese and Korean leagues. I feel like MLB “cuts them a break” rather than competing more aggressively for their players.
It would be tricky and probably part of the reason why it hasn't happened. Plus the big market teams that seem to get the better talent would be against it. Mlb loves to leave loopholes for the big markets to take advantage.
“Better” is doing an awful lot of lifting there. It’s not hard to be better when you’re the Yankees/Mets/Dodgers and merely leveraging your population and regional GDP. A team in the bottom 15 revenue wise signing Yamamoto, for example, is a pipe dream, no matter how well ran.
Thats misframing it. After all, the age cutoff is what spurred this entire discussion, and what role it might play in a proposed international draft. The loophole is free agents waiting to come over so they aren’t subject to the cap, and big markets taking full advantage. Yamamoto, specifically, waited to come over until he knew he could get the $300 million. Not blaming him, most of us would do the same thing. But to the original discussion, there is a point of fairness here.
Despite all the angst when Sabol was left unprotected and subsequently selected in the Rule 5 draft, this was probably always the most likely outcome. Nice for him, as he got a full year in MLB. You would think a catcher who has the athleticism to play outfield would be more valuable, but the unfortunate thing is his defense isn't good enough to be a catcher and he doesn't hit well enough to be an outfielder. Someone should claim him as catchers are a fairly scarce commodity. Most teams seem to opt for a glove first backup, so he will need to find the right team to get on a 26 man roster.
I would be surprised if he was not just 16. LH hitting 6'5" MI's need not wait for additional years before hitting the jackpot. Fits well in the Pirate progression chart of MI's with YDLS just turning 20 this year and probably playing at A/A+ in 2025.
Pretty sure he’s 16. The issue here was LA wanted him to wait a year to sign, when Sasaki money wouldn’t be a barrier, and he didn’t want to. Very likely he just became eligible.
Thank you for the info. Growing up in a country where the average salary was about $12,500 in 2024, he just elevated his whole family income for generations to come. $1.8 mil goes a long way in the DR, and it opens the door for him to become a wage earning MiLB Player (does that start as soon as he signs?), and possibly a wage earning MLB player 4 - 6 years from now .
He will start getting paid during the 2025 DSL Spring Training. They make $19,800 per year in the DSL according to BA. They used to make only about $4,000 a year and they were only paid in-season, but we are talking about guys who got free housing and meals almost all year when you include spring training and their version of the fall league, so they didn't need money most of the year. I don't know if it's a little known secret or not, but DSL players from some countries were paid more because they lived in countries that cost more. For example, the players from Mexico were getting bigger checks than the players from the Dominican.
Jake Woodford to the Rockies on a minor league contract. Please no one jump off the Clemente Bridge. I know it hurts, but it'll be ok.
There are some guys who make you wish the "flashy thing" from Men in Black was real.
We competed for a prospect monetarily and won over the mighty Dodgers! Why does that not even register a heartbeat, as we have a good track record for winning 16-17 year old IFA's, but it NEVER translates to the MLB club.
I hear you.
Even better, *nobody* has what could be considered a "good" track record of IFA's. At least not any sort of consistency.
I'm well past the days of giddiness over Luis Heredia, but you gotta at least acknowledge that this IFA period will represent their largest ever acquisition of what could be considered at this crazy-early stage of human development to be "elite" talent.
A point worth noting: Everybody knew the Sasaki situation would lead to this sort of thing. The Pirates can't have been the only team that figured this out (which may be why they had to go to 1.8M). But they were the team that managed to jump on this particular opportunity. Maybe a good sign from the new director of int'l scouting.
More from "Baseball Wit and Wisdom" to hold us over as we slooowly trudge toward spring training:
"Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like, except in the umpire's eye or on the ball." Jim Murray, LA Times, 1962 (when some people still thought the curveball was an optical illusion!).
I think it's a lock that the dodgers would figure a way to get Sasaki whether within the rules or not. Mlb really needs to figure a way to do an international draft. The international $$ is meaningless when the same teams each year manage to get the best talent even with lesser $$$ available.
It’s one of the million things MLB does poorly. The age restriction is currently 25 (basically) for players from Asia. Being under 25, Sasaki is a free agent in that he can sign with any team he wishes. But only at their International Signing Bonus budget. I believe the signing team will still have 6+ years of control with minimal salaries and then the arbitration process.
There’s no reason MLB couldn’t make player like this subject to a/the draft.
There’s also no reason they couldn’t make the system more in favor of MLB and less in favor of the Japanese and Korean leagues. I feel like MLB “cuts them a break” rather than competing more aggressively for their players.
Be careful what you wish for.
Lots of baseball people smarter than me have noted the decline in Puerto Rican talent directly as a result of regulating them into the draft.
We're Major League Baseball and we're here to help!
Good idea but how would you work the age angle? If there’s an age restriction, like 25, Sasaki will just wait until he can come over as a FA.
It would be tricky and probably part of the reason why it hasn't happened. Plus the big market teams that seem to get the better talent would be against it. Mlb loves to leave loopholes for the big markets to take advantage.
It's a "loophole" to run a more competent organization able to attract better talent than the Pittsburgh Pirates?
Come on dude, loser mentality.
“Better” is doing an awful lot of lifting there. It’s not hard to be better when you’re the Yankees/Mets/Dodgers and merely leveraging your population and regional GDP. A team in the bottom 15 revenue wise signing Yamamoto, for example, is a pipe dream, no matter how well ran.
Yamamoto, a veteran IFA, has absolutely nothing to do with Sasaki and other top January IFAs.
Every single club in baseball can sign Sasaki.
Thats misframing it. After all, the age cutoff is what spurred this entire discussion, and what role it might play in a proposed international draft. The loophole is free agents waiting to come over so they aren’t subject to the cap, and big markets taking full advantage. Yamamoto, specifically, waited to come over until he knew he could get the $300 million. Not blaming him, most of us would do the same thing. But to the original discussion, there is a point of fairness here.
I'm assuming Morel is around 16. He seems to move very well at 6'5".
That ain't no baby giraffe.
Despite all the angst when Sabol was left unprotected and subsequently selected in the Rule 5 draft, this was probably always the most likely outcome. Nice for him, as he got a full year in MLB. You would think a catcher who has the athleticism to play outfield would be more valuable, but the unfortunate thing is his defense isn't good enough to be a catcher and he doesn't hit well enough to be an outfielder. Someone should claim him as catchers are a fairly scarce commodity. Most teams seem to opt for a glove first backup, so he will need to find the right team to get on a 26 man roster.
A catcher with the athleticism to play outfield is still a catcher who couldn't lock down a catching spot.
Cool, it will be super fun to follow Morel's progress, we have a type for tall SS prospects😂... Any idea of his age, couldnt find it
I would be surprised if he was not just 16. LH hitting 6'5" MI's need not wait for additional years before hitting the jackpot. Fits well in the Pirate progression chart of MI's with YDLS just turning 20 this year and probably playing at A/A+ in 2025.
Pretty sure he’s 16. The issue here was LA wanted him to wait a year to sign, when Sasaki money wouldn’t be a barrier, and he didn’t want to. Very likely he just became eligible.
Thank you for the info. Growing up in a country where the average salary was about $12,500 in 2024, he just elevated his whole family income for generations to come. $1.8 mil goes a long way in the DR, and it opens the door for him to become a wage earning MiLB Player (does that start as soon as he signs?), and possibly a wage earning MLB player 4 - 6 years from now .
He will start getting paid during the 2025 DSL Spring Training. They make $19,800 per year in the DSL according to BA. They used to make only about $4,000 a year and they were only paid in-season, but we are talking about guys who got free housing and meals almost all year when you include spring training and their version of the fall league, so they didn't need money most of the year. I don't know if it's a little known secret or not, but DSL players from some countries were paid more because they lived in countries that cost more. For example, the players from Mexico were getting bigger checks than the players from the Dominican.