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The Remnants of the 2014-15 International Signing Spree [2017 Season Review]

December 20, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

It has now been three and a half years since the Yankees broke baseball’s international signing system. They blew up their $2.2M bonus pool and spent north of $30M between bonuses and taxes during the 2014-15 international signing period. Several teams followed suit, most notably the Padres and Braves, and it prompted MLB to push for the international hard cap that exists today.

Nearly four years since that spending spree, it’s becoming clear the 2014-15 international class has not yielded as much high-end talent as hoped. And perhaps the problem was our expectations. After all, if you invest $30M in players and get two regulars out of it, you’re ahead of the game. And it’s not like the Yankees are getting nothing out of the signings. Some of their top prospects came from the 2014-15 spree. Let’s look at where that 2014-15 class sits at the moment.

The Unexpected Top Prospects

The Yankees gave seven players seven-figure bonuses during the 2014-15 signing spree so, naturally, the top prospects from that haul signed for $200,000 (OF Estevan Florial) and $10,000 (RHP Freicer Perez). Go figure. Florial and Perez were covered in our farm system review. SS Diego Castillo ($750,000) and OF Pablo Olivares ($400,000) are also among the best prospects from the signing class, and they did not receive seven figures.

Castillo, who played the entire 2017 season at age 19, hit .263/.310/.315 (83 wRC+) with little power (.052 ISO) but lots of contact (10.0% strikeouts) in 118 games with Low-A Charleston. He was more than two years younger than the average South Atlantic League player. Castillo is a better prospect than the numbers would lead you to believe. He’s got great bat-to-ball skills and he’s one hell of a defensive infielder. There’s a lot to work with here.

The 19-year-old Olivares hit .363/.495/.488 (174 wRC+) in 23 rookie ball games and .160/.233/.210 (33 wRC+) in 36 Low-A games this past season, which works out to .241/.347/.322 (94 wRC+) in 59 games overall. Olivares is a “good at everything, great at nothing” prospect, and those guys have a way of steadily climbing the ladder and getting a big league look at some point. I imagine he and Castillo will team up with the RiverDogs again to start 2018.

SS Hoy Jun Park signed for $1.2M during the 2014-15 signing period and is one of the top prospects from that class. He hit .251/.348/.359 (110 wRC+) with seven homers and 25 steals in 110 Single-A games this season, and he’s made progress getting stronger and avoiding careless mistakes on defense. Park is older than most of his 2014-15 signing class brethren — he signed out of high school and will be 22 in April — but he’s well-rounded with more raw power than he’s shown in games so far.

The Big Money Signings

Among the seven seven-figure bonus prospects, only Park and 3B Dermis Garcia have advanced out of rookie ball. Garcia has the most raw power in the farm system, hands down. He probably has more power than anyone in the organization aside from Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, and yes, that includes Gary Sanchez. Dermis has crazy raw pop. Dude can hit the ball a mile.

This season the 19-year-old Garcia hit 17 home runs in 63 games — he has 30 homers in 143 pro games, and I’m not sure enough people understand how ridiculous it is for a teenager to hit for that kind of power in pro ball — split between rookie Pulaski and Low-A Charleston. The .249/.357/.542 (144 wRC+) batting line kinda sums up who Dermis is as a hitter. Lots of power, lots of walks (14.3%), and a not great average due to lots of strikeouts (30.5%). Also, Garcia is not a great defensive third baseman, so much so that a move to first seems inevitable.

Park and Garcia are climbing the ladder slowly but surely. The other seven-figure signings — 3B Nelson Gomez ($2.25M), OF Juan De Leon ($2M), OF Jonathan Amundaray ($1.5M), SS Wilkerman Garcia ($1.35M), 1B Miguel Flames ($1M) — haven’t advanced much at all. None have played in a full season league and none have stood out for their performance. The 2017 numbers:

Amundaray: .193/.233/.246 (37 wRC+) in 35 rookie ball games
De Leon: .229/.358/.312 (105 wRC+) in 47 rookie ball games
Flames: .247/.321/.347 (94 wRC+) in 53 rookie ball games
Garcia: .222/.256/.296 (64 wRC+) in 67 Short Season Staten Island games
Gomez: .128/.269/.174 (50 wRC+) in 27 Short Season Staten Island games

Not great. There is so much more to this than minor league performance, but gosh, more than three years after signing, most of these kids haven’t made it out of rookie ball. Flames signed as a catcher and has already moved to first base. Gomez signed a shortstop, moved to third, and is destined to move to first. De Leon moved from center field to a corner. Wilkerman has gone backwards since being a top ten organizational prospect two years ago.

Florial and Perez have blown by the seven-figure players as prospects and while Park, Castillo, and Garcia (Dermis) are promising, they would not rank among the top ten prospects in a “normal” farm system, nevermind the deep Yankees system. Does that mean the Yankees made a mistake signing guys like Amundaray and De Leon and Wilkerman? Of course not. It just means that right now, these players haven’t developed into top prospects as hoped.

The Best of the Rest

Dropping more than $30M in international prospects is not easy. You have to really spread the wealth around and sign lots of prospects. Lots and lots of prospects. Among the other guys the Yankees signed is OF Brayan Emery, who was expected to sign for seven figures but instead received $500,000. He hit .200/.294/.347 (76 wRC+) with two homers and a 33.0% strikeout rate in 26 rookie ball games this season. Lots of tools. Not a lot of baseball skills.

RHP Gilmael Troya, a $10,000 signing, showed a lot of promise in his 2015 debut, but has regressed a bit. He threw 53.1 rookie ball innings with a 4.22 ERA (5.17 FIP) and 24.4% strikeouts and 10.4% walks this year. OF Frederick Cuevas was great statistically this year, hitting .312/.373/.455 (123 wRC+) with three homers in 43 rookie ball games. He was a $300,000 signing. Here are the other notable 2014-15 international signings:

OF Antonio Arias ($200,000): Has played one (1) game above the Dominican Summer League. Arias was touted as a very athletic and toolsy outfielder, though obviously that hasn’t gotten him very far.
OF Lisandro Blanco ($500,000): He hit .202/.279/.312 (73 wRC+) with 31.1% strikeouts in 33 rookie ball games. Blanco is a bat speed guy who hasn’t yet figured out how to hit.
OF Leobaldo Cabrera ($250,000): Cabrera hit .221/.322/.275 (71 wRC+) in 40 rookie ball games. His best tool is his throwing arm, which explains the stat line.
IF Griffin Garabito ($225,000): In his third season in the Gulf Coast League, Garabito hit .253/.299/.400 (99 wRC+) in 52 games. He’s a contact guy who always profiled best as a utility infielder.
C Jason Lopez ($100,000): Lopez converted from infielder to catcher after signing and is a good catch-and-throw guy. He hit .240/.345/.313 (104 wRC+) in 49 games with Short Season Staten Island.
OF Erick Mendez ($250,000): Mendez was limited to five games in 2017, all in the DSL, after being suspended 50 games under the minor league drug policy over the winter.
OF Raymundo Moreno ($600,000): The .248/.344/.342 (104 wRC+) line in 49 rookie ball games isn’t anything special, but keep an eye on Moreno. He has tools and a plan at the plate. This is a guy who could jump up prospect lists next year.
IF Danienger Perez ($300,000): Perez is an all glove/no bat guy who hit .250/.304/.324 (83 wRC+) in 41 games between rookie Pulaski and Staten Island this year.

These are not all the prospects the Yankees signed during the 2014-15 signing period, of course. Just the most notable. There are two things we can say about the signing class to date. One, it has not infused the system with gobs of high-end prospects as hoped. Florial is super legit, and others like Perez, Olivares, Park, and Garcia (Dermis) offer plenty of promise. Getting one Florial and four other interesting prospects from one international class is usually pretty great. Just not when you spend $30M and most of the other big money guys are trending down.

And two, most of these kids are just now turning 20. Park is older than the others because he signed out of high school in Korea, otherwise most of these prospects played the season at 19 or 20. Do we have an idea which way most of them are trending right now, more than three years since they’ve signed? Yes. Definitely. Is it time to declare them successes or failures? Of course not. Normal baseball attrition is doing its thing, and in a weird turn of events, it’s the smaller bonus guys who are excelling while the big money guys struggle.

Year Two of the 2014-15 International Free Agency Class [2016 Season Review]

November 30, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Two and a half years ago the Yankees did something that sent shockwaves throughout baseball. On July 2nd, 2014, the first day of the 2014-15 international signing period, the Yankees committed more than $17M in bonuses to amateur players and completely blew their $2.2M bonus pool out of the water. Between bonuses and penalties, the team spend upwards of $30M on international free agents that signing period.

The Yankees were not the first team to exceed their international bonus pool but they were the first to do it in such an extreme way. Since then other clubs, including the Dodgers and Braves and Padres, have followed suit and spent huge on international free agents. The tax and other penalties, including a $300,000 limit on bonuses during both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 international signing periods, were a price worth paying for a one-year talent windfall.

As the owners continue to push for an international draft as part of Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations — Ken Rosenthal says they’ve backed off that demand, for what it’s worth — the Yankees are in the process of developing and cultivating that 2014-15 international class. International free agency is not the thing for you if you’re looking for instant gratification. Turning 16-year-olds into big leaguers is a long and not always smooth process.

The 2016 season was the second full year in pro ball for players signed during the 2014-15 period — players sign contracts that begin the following season, so the kids who signed on July 2nd, 2014, signed 2015 contracts — and the Yankees are starting to see some exciting things happen in the lower minors. Here’s a progress report on that 2014-15 international signing class.

The Top Prospect

You know, it’s actually very up for debate who currently is the best prospect the Yankees signed as part of the spending spree. But, since this is my blog, I’m making an executive decision. SS Wilkerman Garcia ($1.35M bonus) burst onto the scene with a huge debut in 2015, hitting .299/.414/.362 (140 wRC+) with more walks (15.8%) than strikeouts (12.0%) in 39 rookie ball games. He’s the best prospect from the 2014-15 class. Unfortunately his 2016 follow-up didn’t go too well.

Garcia, who won’t turn 19 until April, suffered a shoulder injury in Spring Training this year, and while he didn’t need surgery or anything like that, he spent much of the first half rehabbing in Extended Spring Training. When he was ready to play, he went to rookie level Pulaski and put up a disappointing .198/.255/.284 (52 wRC+) batting line with 18.4% strikeouts and 6.3% walks in 54 games. Wilkerman was two and a half years younger than the average Appalachian League player.

The stat line is not pretty, but the most important thing is Garcia’s shoulder is now healthy and he didn’t lose any of the high-end athleticism that landed him such a large bonus. Wilkerman is a switch-hitter with bat control and strike zone knowledge, plus he runs very well and has a strong arm, which suit him well at shortstop. Hopefully 2016 was just a bump in the road. Garcia projects as an impact AVG/OBP/speed/defense leadoff type.

The New Hot Prospect

One of the best prospects the Yankees signed during the 2014-15 signing period did not sign on July 2nd. He signed in March 2015. OF Estevan Florial ($200,000) was a highly regarded prospect heading into the signing period before being suspended by MLB for paperwork issues. Joel Sherman has a great story on Florial’s background. Apparently his mother used fraudulent paperwork to get him into school.

Florial, who turned 19 last week, annihilated the Dominican Summer League last season, hitting .313/.394/.527 (154 wRC+) with seven home runs and 15 steals in 57 games. His stateside debut in 2016 didn’t go quite as well. Florial put up a .228/.310/.370 (92 wRC+) line with eight homers and ten steals in 70 games at mostly Pulaski. (He also made brief cameos with Low-A Charleston and High-A Tampa.) Florial struck out in 28.9% of his plate appearances.

The stat line is not what gets folks so excited about Florial. It’s the scouting report. During a recent Baseball America podcast, Josh Norris said scouts are giving Florial a 70 (on the 20-80 scouting scale) for three tools: power, running, throwing. That’s bonkers. Florial, a lefty hitter, has huge power and is a tremendous athlete. The only red flag in his game — and it’s a significant one — is his tendency to swing and miss.

More than a few tooled up players have been sabotaged by insufficient hitting ability, but that doesn’t mean you stop targeting those players. Every once in a while they turn into Kris Bryant. Florial is so well-regarded that teams are already asking for him in trades, according to Sherman. Given his natural ability, the Yankees scored a major win signing Florial for a mere $200,000 that late in the signing period.

The Power Threats

The two largest bonuses the Yankees handed out during the 2014-15 signing period went to 3B Dermis Garcia ($3.2M) and 3B Nelson Gomez ($2.25M). (Garcia signed as a shortstop and has since moved to third.) For both players, their calling card is their power. MLB.com ranked them as the top two international prospects in 2014 and they gave Dermis a 65 for his power. Gomez received a 60. Those are huge numbers for kids who were only 16 at the time.

Garcia, 19 in January, showed off that power during his 57-game stint with Pulaski this summer. He hit .206/.326/.454 (114 wRC+) overall and finished second in the league with 13 homers. The home run leader, Bradley Jones of the Blue Jays, hit 16. He’s three years older than Garcia. Dermis also struck out 34.3% of the time because he takes a big aggressive hack, which leads to a lot of whiffs. When he connects though, this happens:

At one point this summer Garcia went deep in four straight games — only 15 teenagers hit at least four home runs all season in the Appy League — and eight times in the span of 15 games. Eighteen-year-old kids in rookie ball just don’t do that. His power is truly special.

Garcia is not a mindless hacker. He knows the strike zone (13.9 BB%) and which pitches he can punish. His swing is just so aggressive — it’s basically a Javier Baez swing, that kind of aggressive — that he comes up empty a good amount of the time. Once Dermis realizes his power is so great that he can still hit the ball out of the park while taking a more controlled swing, he’s going to be a monster.

As for Gomez, the just turned 19-year-old made his stateside debut in 2016 and authored a .194/.249/.403 (92 wRC+) batting line in 54 games with one of the Yankees’ two rookie Gulf Coast League affiliates. The good news: Gomez was second in the league with nine homers. (The leader, Ignacio Valdez of the Tigers, had eleven and is two years older.) The bad news: Gomez struck out 25.8% of the time and walked 3.8% of the time.

Unlike Garcia, Gomez is a true hacker who will swing at pretty much everything and chase out of the zone. His plate discipline and approach are a very long way away from being competitive. Neither player offers a ton defensively, so their value is tied up heavily in their bats. Garcia is much more than a mistake hitter. He can hit. He just needs to tone things down a notch. Gomez has to figure out how to read spin and discern a ball from a strike.

The Sleeper

Unlike the players above, SS Diego Castillo ($750,000) does not come with loud tools. He’s not going to wow you with speed and his arm like Wilkerman, or hit the snot out of the ball like Dermis or Gomez, or grab your attention like Florial. Castillo, who turned 19 last month, is a bat-to-ball machine with a sweet swing and an opposite field approach. He can also play the hell out of shortstop thanks to good mobility and a strong arm.

This summer Castillo came to the U.S. and hit .267/.332/.327 (102 wRC+) with one home run and five steals in 44 GCL games. His strikeout rate (11.4%) is a result of his contact-focused approach, plus he drew a good amount of walks too (7.6%). Castillo is a boringly good prospect. He’s not flashy, but he’s very fundamentally sound and instinctive on the baseball field. Castillo has the ability to be a rock solid shortstop who helps on both sides of the ball at the next level.

The Advanced Prospect

Advanced is a relative term. We are talking about (mostly) teenagers here, after all. The oldest bonafide prospect the Yankees signed during the 2014-15 signing period is SS Hoy Jun Park ($1.2M), who signed at 18 after graduating high school in South Korea. He spent this past season sharing second base and shortstop with Kyle Holder at Low-A Charleston, where he hit .225/.336/.329 (97 wRC+) with two homers, 32 steals, 23.2% strikeouts, and 13.0% walks in 116 games.

At this point Park’s offensive game lags behind his defense because he didn’t face the greatest competition growing up. He’s a left-handed hitter with a good swing and a plan at the plate, and once he adds some meat to his frame (6-foot-1 and 175 lbs.), the power should come. Park is a no-doubt shortstop with a quick first step and a strong arm. He’s prone to being a little too flashy and making mistakes, but that’s nothing a little experience can’t fix.

Park is older than most of his 2014-15 signing period brethren and he’s already spent a full season in Low-A, so he’s higher up the ladder as well. His offensive game has started to come around nicely since signing. Park’s easy to overlook in a farm system loaded with shortstops, but he has some really exciting skills. He has the potential to be a standout shortstop on both sides of the ball.

The Pop-Up Prospect

“Pop-up” prospects happen a lot with international free agents. Jorge Mateo and Luis Severino were pop-up prospects. Both were lower profile prospects signed to relatively small bonuses, their physical development was favorable — a lot kids go through growth spurts and lose the athleticism that get them signed in the first place — then bam, they were top prospects. Scouting kids who are 15 or 16 years old and projecting what they’ll be at 21 and 22 is awfully tough. The error bars are huge.

RHP Freicer Perez ($10,000) is the pop-up prospect from the 2014-15 signing period. The 20-year-old held his own with Short Season Staten Island in 2016, pitching to a 4.47 ERA (3.81 FIP) with 20.6% strikeouts and 10.5% walks in 13 starts and 52.1 innings. Perez is massive. He’s listed at 6-foot-8 and 190 lbs., which means he still hasn’t filled out and could add to a fastball that already sits 95-97 mph. His breaking ball and changeup need work, as does his overall command, but squint your eyes and you can see a Dellin Betances starter kit. Not too shabby for a $10,000 investment.

The Other Big Money Prospects

The Yankees gave out seven seven-figure bonuses during the 2014-15 international signing period. Stick to the spending pools and most teams would be able to afford two $1M+ bonuses, maybe three. The Yankees made a complete mockery of the system. No wonder the owners are pushing for an international draft now.

Anyway, four of those seven $1M+ bonuses went to Gomez, Park, and the two Garcias. One of the other three went to OF Jonathan Amundaray ($1.5M), an 18-year-old who hit .269/.321/.394 (112 wRC+) with two homers and an 18.8% strikeout rate in 29 games while repeating the Dominican Summer League in 2016. Amundaray has been billed as a good worker and very coachable, and the Yankees are waiting for his athletic ability to translate on the field.

OF Juan DeLeon ($2M) was arguably the most exciting prospect the Yankees signed two years ago thanks to his well-rounded game and true five-tool skill set. He appeared in only a dozen GCL games this summer due to an injury, hitting .212/.308/.364 (103 wRC+) in 39 plate appearances. Meh. I wouldn’t call this a lost year — DeLeon did get to work in Extended Spring Training before the GCL season — but not much happened for him in 2016.

The final seven-figure bonus went to C Miguel Flames ($1.1M), whose development behind the plate has been slow. Last year he caught nine games in the DSL (41 at first base) and this year he caught ten games in the GCL (36 at first). Many of them weren’t even full games. The Yankees had Flames catch five innings every few days for a while, and that was it. Not everyone takes to the position as quickly as Luis Torrens. The Yankees have had to ease Flames into it.

The Best of the Rest

Among the other notable 2014-15 international prospects are OF Brayan Emery ($500,000) and RHP Gilmael Troya ($10,000), both of whom played in the GCL in 2016. Emery, 18, hit .208/.328/.255 (88 wRC+) with one homer in 32 games and has insane tools. He was initially expected to sign for $1M+. Troya, 19, broke out last year after some mechanical tweaks, though he took a step back this summer and put up a 3.78 ERA (4.41 FIP) in 50 innings. He stands out for his fastball/curveball combo and pitching know-how.

Here are the rest of the notable prospects the Yankees signed during the 2014-15 signing period, plus a note on their 2016 performance and current status:

OF Antonio Arias ($800,000): 18-year-old hit .239/.350/.266 (95 wRC+) in 51 games while repeating the DSL. He’s a great athlete and incredibly raw. A total lottery ticket.
OF Lisandro Blanco ($550,000): 19-year-old was overmatched in the GCL, hitting .111/.265/.185 (52 wRC+) in 26 games. Baseball is hard, even when you have premium bat speed like Blanco.
OF Leobaldo Cabrera ($250,000): 18-year-old hit .196/.261/.224 (53 wRC+) in 43 GCL games. He’s a raw athlete who stands out most for his throwing arm.
OF Frederick Cuevas ($300,000): 19-year-old playing sparingly in the GCL and hit .267/.302/.350 (96 wRC+) in 30 games. Cuevas is a lefty hitter with some pull power and approach issues.
IF Griffin Garabito ($225,000): 19-year-old followed up a solid 2015 debut by hitting .182/.238/.223 (44 wRC+) in 36 GCL games. He profiles best a contact heavy utility infielder.
C Jason Lopez ($100,000): 18-year-old hit .192/.267/.346 (85 wRC+) in only eleven GCL games. He’s a recently converted infielder with a rocket arm and some pop.
OF Erick Mendez ($250,000): 20-year-old put up a .243/.318/.393 (112 wRC+) line in 40 games between the GCL and Pulaski, then failed a performance-enhancing drug test after the season. He’ll serve a 50-game suspension at the outset of 2017.
OF Raymundo Moreno ($600,000): 18-year-old hit a fine .284/.381/.333 (119 wRC+) in 56 games while repeating the DSL. He’s got some loud tools and could make a name for himself in the GCL in 2017.
OF Pablo Olivares ($400,000): 18-year-old put up a .285/.378/.392 (135 wRC+) batting line in 47 GCL games. He a right-handed hitter who sprays the ball to all fields and is an excellent center field defender. The Yankees might have something here.
IF Danienger Perez ($300,000): 20-year-old hit .213/.248/.283 (60 wRC+) in 35 games between the GCL and Low-A. Perez is a speedy slap hitter who hasn’t hit much in pro ball.

These are not even all the prospects the Yankees signed during the 2014-15 signing period. These are just the most notable. All told, the Yankees brought in about four years worth of international talent two years ago. Most years you may get one or two premium prospects and two of three secondary guys of note. In 2014-15, the Yankees landed four headliners (Park, Florial, the Garcias) and a host of second tier prospects (Gomez, Perez, Castillo, DeLeon, Flames, Amundaray, Emery, Troya, Olivares).

I’m not sure how many of these players will play full season ball in 2017 — Park will for sure, and I could see the Yankees pushing Florial and Perez to Low-A — but the Yankees have more than enough short season league teams to house them all. No one has knocked your socks off statistically yet — hey, they can’t all dominate instantly like Jesus Montero — but Florial, Dermis, Park, and Perez have all made improvements while others are still showing the big tools that got them signed at 16. With kids this age, that’s not always a given two years later.

2016 Preseason Not Top 30 Prospects

February 11, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Although the Yankees have not signed any Major League free agents this offseason, they have been active on the trade market, and they graduated several high-profile prospects to the big leagues last year, so the farm system has undergone a significant facelift these last 12 months. Expect to see many new faces in my 2016 Preseason Top 30 Prospects List, which will be posted at 12pm ET tomorrow.

But first, we have to cover five Not Top 30 Prospects. These are not prospects 31-35. These are five players who I believe have a chance to jump into next year’s Top 30 with a strong statistical season in 2016, and, more importantly, good progress in their development. It was tough to settle on five names this year because a bunch of those 2014-15 international signings figure to be top 30 material next year. I could have easily picked five guys from the spending spree and almost did.

Two of last year’s Not Top 30 Prospects jumped into this year’s Top 30, and over the years I’ve learned two out of five is pretty good. A few of the players in this year’s Not Top 30 — the July 2014 international signees, specifically — are too well-known to be considered sleepers. That’s not necessarily the case for the others. Here are my five 2016 Not Top 30 Prospects.

OF Trey Amburgey
No Yankees draftee had a better pro debut than Amburgey last season. The 21-year-old hit .335/.388/.502 (161 wRC+) with five homers and 21 steals in 62 games split between the Rookie Gulf Coast League and Short Season Staten Island affiliates after being selected in the 13th round of the 2015 draft. I wouldn’t expect those numbers to be the norm, but Amburgey has bat speed and an impressive approach at the plate. His power potential is limited because he’s a line drive hitter who doesn’t generate a ton of loft. Amburgey has above-average speed and a strong arm, which serve him well in the outfield, where’s an asset defensively. He also plays with a ton of energy. Amburgey’s a classic grinder. I’m not quite sure where he will begin the 2016 season, but it could very well be with Low-A Charleston.

OF Juan DeLeon
DeLeon, 18, signed for $2M back in July 2014, when the Yankees made a mockery of baseball’s international talent acquisition system. He spent his first summer in pro ball in the Dominican Summer League, where he hit .226/.344/.366 (108 wRC+) with three homers and a 29.7% strikeout rate in 53 games, but drew raves for his tools. He has elite bat speed and very good power potential, and despite that strikeout rate, he makes consistent hard contact. DeLeon is also a very good center field defender with an above-average arm, so even if he fills out his 6-foot-2, 185 lb. frame at some point and slows down, he’s more than equipped to play right field. DeLeon will make the jump stateside this year, splitting the season between Extended Spring Training and one of the organization’s three rookie ball affiliates.

3B Dermis Garcia
Signed for $3M as part of the 2014-15 international spending spree, Garcia, 18, has already moved off shortstop to third base because he filled out considerably over the last 18 months or so. He’s listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 lbs., though that might be 10-20 lbs. light. Garcia has huge power and the bat makes a special sound when he connects. He can drive the ball out of any part of any park. His offensive approach is rudimentary, however, so he needs to sharpen his knowledge of the strike zone before he can begin to approach his offensive ceiling. Garcia is not a great athlete and there’s a chance he may end up in left field or even first base down the line. He’s a bat first prospect, no doubt. After hitting .159/.256/.188 (46 wRC+) with a 32.1% strikeout rate in 23 Rookie Gulf Coast League games in 2015, Garcia will return to that level this year following a stint in Extended Spring Training.

OF Jhalan Jackson
The Yankees grabbed the 22-year-old Jackson in the seventh round last year and he has some of the most raw power in the system. He put up a .266/.338/.452 (133 wRC+) batting line with five homers in 49 games with Short Season Staten Island after signing, though his 29.8% strikeout rate shows his approach is not where it needs to be. Jackson can handle breaking balls, but the power he shows in batting practice isn’t going to translate over to games if he doesn’t lay off more pitches out of the zone. He’s a freakish athlete and a gym rat with a body that looks like it was chiseled out of marble, so it’s no surprise he has good range in the outfield and a very strong arm. Jackson has an awful lot of upside. Controlling the strike zone will be his biggest challenge going forward. He figures to head to Low-A Charleston this coming season.

OF Carlos Vidal
Vidal, 20, was one of the top statistical performers in the farm system last year, putting up a .303/.389/.492 (145 wRC+) line with nine homers, 16 steals, a 15.7% strikeout rate, and a 10.3% walk rate in 60 games for the new Rookie Pulaski affiliate. He was a relatively unheralded international signing out of Colombia in 2014, and he’s one of those guys who lacks a standout tool but can do a little of everything. Vidal has a contact-oriented left-handed swing but not a ton of power, which limits his offensive ceiling. He’s a solid defender with a strong arm who is at his best in a corner. The Yankees love Vidal’s makeup and coachability. He’s likely headed to Low-A Charleston in 2016.

The Early Returns from the 2014-15 International Spending Spree [2015 Season Review]

December 14, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Four years ago, the MLBPA collectively bargained away the earning potential of amateur players. Spending restrictions were put in place for both the draft and international free agency, and while the spending limits are a soft cap, they do come with harsh penalties. Teams are given a bonus pool for the draft and international free agency, and exceeding the bonus pool comes with a hefty price.

Two summers ago, the Yankees decided to flex their financial muscle and go on a massive international spending spree. Their bonus pool was only $2.2M, but they spent upwards of $16M on bonuses during the 2014-15 signing period. As a result, they were taxed 100% on the overage — that’s another $14M or so in tax, mean the total cost was $30M+ — and are unable to hand out a bonus larger than $300,000 during both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 international signing periods.

The Yankees were willing to pay the penalties to haul in the vast majority of the top talent available. They signed about four years worth of high-end international prospects in one signing period. Other teams like the Dodgers, Cubs, Giants, Diamondbacks, and Royals followed suit this past summer and blew their bonus pools out of the water. I’m guessing MLB and the MLBPA will look to change the system when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires next offseason.

Anyway, the 2014-15 signing period was very heavy on position player prospects. There weren’t a ton of high quality arms to go around, so almost all the prospects the Yankees landed are hitters. Yeah, some balance would have been nice, but more pitching prospects weren’t going to pop out of thin air. The Yankees hoarded position player talent and those players made their pro debuts during the 2015 season. Let’s look at the early returns.

Stellar Debuts in the States

Rather than be held back in the Dominican Summer League, a few of the international signees were brought to the U.S. to begin their pro careers this season. The best of the bunch was Venezuelan SS Wilkerman Garcia ($1.35M bonus), a 17-year-old switch-hitter who hit .299/.414/.362 (140 wRC+) with 25 walks and 19 strikeouts in 39 Rookie Gulf Coast League games. He’s a solid defender and may wind up at second base long-term, but he offers high-end bat-to-ball skills.

Korean SS Hoy Jun Park ($1.16M) also had a strong debut. Park signed out of high school and is already 19, so it’s no surprise the Yankees brought him stateside for his first pro season. He hit .239/.351/.383 (109 wRC+) with five homers, 12 steals, a 19.1% strikeout rate, and a 13.0% walk rate in 56 games for the new Rookie Pulaski affiliate. Park is a legitimate shortstop with strong defensive tools, and the left-handed batter showed this summer he can handle pro pitching, especially big fastballs. His pro debut was rather impressive considering he did not face great competition growing up.

Venezuelan RHP Gilmael Troya ($10,000) is an interesting case because, as his bonus suggests, he was not a high profile prospect at all. The 18-year-old saw his velocity tick up in pro ball, and he now sits in the low-90s consistently. He also has a plan on the mound and the makings of an out-pitch curveball. Troya had a 1.80 ERA (2.97 FIP) with a 27.4% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate in 60 GCL innings this summer. He, Garcia, and Park were the standouts who debuted in the U.S. in 2015.

The Big Money Prospects

When it comes to international free agency, bonuses can tell you quite a bit. The larger the bonus, the more the team likes the player. The bonus doesn’t necessarily reflect the market — you had to offer this much to get him because another team was offering a comparable bonus, for example — because teams zero in on these kids when they’re 14 or 15 years old. They agree to bonuses months or even years in advance, before other teams get a chance to scout them. I’m not joking when I say they hide these kids at their complexes so other scouts don’t see them.

The Yankees gave out seven seven-figure bonuses during the 2014-15 signing period: Dominican SS Dermis Garcia ($3.2M), Dominican 3B Nelson Gomez ($2.25M), Dominican OF Juan DeLeon ($2M), Venezuelan OF Jonathan Amundaray ($1.5M), Venezuelan C Miguel Flames ($1M), Wilkerman, and Park. Like Wilkerman and Park, Dermis Garcia made his pro debut in the U.S. this summer, hitting .159/.256/.188 (46 wRC+) with 25 strikeouts and nine walks in 23 scattered GCL games. (There was a ton of rain in Tampa this year. They went two or three days between games for a few weeks there.)

Garcia, 17, signed as a shortstop but has already moved to third base because he’s a big dude (6-foot-3 and 200 lbs.) and lacks the defensive chops for short. He has huge right-handed raw power and a very strong arm, though he needs refinement at the plate and is very much a long-term project. The unteachable skills are there (power, arm, etc.). Now Garcia just needs to work on his approach and things like that.

The other four seven-figure bonus guys debuted in the Dominican Summer League this year. Gomez, 18, put up a .243/.350/.435 (123 wRC+) line with eleven homers, a 24.3% strikeout rate, and a 12.4% walk rate in 58 DSL games. Similar to Dermis Garcia, Gomez is a big bodied (6-foot-1 and 220 lbs.) masher with righty raw power and a strong arm. He might have more power, actually. His defense is fine and his approach is much more advanced than Garcia’s.

DeLeon, 18, had a statistically underwhelming season, hitting .226/.344/.336 (108 wRC+) with three homers and a 66/25 K/BB in 53 DSL games, but he might be the most tooled up player from the international class. He has high-end bat speed from the right side and strong center field skills, including a very good arm that would be more than fine in right. Don’t read too much into DSL numbers. DeLeon is arguably the best prospect the Yankees signed as part of their spending spree.

The 17-year-old Amundaray was limited to 13 games in the DSL this summer, hitting .111/.346/.167 (72 wRC+) with 12 walks and 12 strikeouts. He’s another guy who is more athletic tools than baseball skills, if you catch my drift. Amundaray has good bat speed and he’s a good runner, but he’s very raw at the plate with less than stellar bat-to-ball ability. He has power from the right side but sells out for it even though he doesn’t need to.

Flames, 18, had the best statistical debut of the big bonus guys, hitting .317/.398/.454 (142 wRC+) with three homers, an 18.5% strikeout rate, and a 9.2% walk rate in 54 DSL games. He did spend most of his time at first base though (only nine games behind the plate) because he’s not a great defender, so he did most of his defensive work behind the scenes. Flames has a pro body (6-foot-2 and 210 lbs.) and his right-handed hit tool/raw power combo is awfully impressive. He was a third baseman who converted to catching shortly before signing.

The international market is not the place for instant gratification. These kids sign at 16 and begin playing at 17, so they’re extremely raw and underdeveloped. The tools are far, far, far more important than the performance. Wilkerman and Park are more advanced than the rest, though Dermis, Gomez, and DeLeon have loud tools and star upside. There’s just a lot of work to be done to reach that ceiling.

Low Cost Prospects

The Yankees have excelled at finding low cost Latin American prospects over the years. You can go back to Robinson Cano, who signed for a $150,000 bonus back in 2001. More recently, the Yankees landed Luis Severino ($225,000) and Jorge Mateo ($250,000) on relatively small bonuses. The million dollar guys get the most attention, understandably, but the mid-range market is where organizational depth is built.

The best six-figure bonus prospect is arguably Venezuelan SS Diego Castillo ($750,000), who put up a .331/.373/.444 (130 wRC+) line with five steals, an 11.6% strikeout rate, and a 6.1% walk rate in 56 DSL games. He’s similar to current Yankees farmhand IF Abi Avelino in that he has no standout tool, but is solid across the board with great instincts that allow everything to play up. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Venezuelan OF Antonio Arias ($800,000) hit .235/.316/.316 (87 wRC+) in 39 DSL games. The 17-year-old is a pure projection play: he’s a high-end athlete with bat speed who is still working to turn those natural gifts into baseball skills. Dominican OF Frederick Cuevas ($300,000), 18, put up a .256/.376/.365 (117 wRC+) line in 57 DSL games. The lefty swinger doesn’t have exciting tools but does know his game as a lefty gap hitter.

The international period begins on July 2nd each year, but it wasn’t until November that the Yankees snagged Colombian OF Brayan Emery ($500,000). He was originally expected to land a $1M+ bonus, but that didn’t happen. The 17-year-old Emery hit .192/.330/.308 (92 wRC+) with three homers, a 29.7% strikeout rate, and a 14.7% walk rate in 61 DSL games this summer. He’s a very exciting prospect, with a smooth left-handed swing and power potential to go with right field defensive tools. Emery needs experience more than anything.

Here are some of the other smaller bonus guys the Yankees landed during the 2014-15 international signing period. Again, “smaller bonus” is a relative term.

Dominican OF Lisandro Blanco ($550,000), 18: .291/.391/.355 (122 wRC+) in 41 DSL games. Top notch tools, including great bat speed and high-end athleticism.
Venezuelan OF Leobaldo Cabrera ($250,000), 17: .298/.367/.382 (116 wRC+) in 59 DSL games. His best tools are top of the line arm strength and an advanced approach at the plate.
Dominican IF Griffin Garabito ($225,000), 18: .256/.328/.312 (94 wRC+) in 62 GCL games. Versatile infielder who is known for his bat-to-ball ability. The Yankees liked him enough to bring him stateside in 2015.
Venezuelan C Jason Lopez ($100,000), 17: .240/.337/.301 (91 wRC+) in 42 DSL games. Recently converted third baseman with a very strong arm and some power potential.
Dominican OF Erick Mendez ($250,000), 19: .281/.381/.465 (140 wRC+) in 51 DSL games. Good all-around ability — bat speed, power potential, arm, speed — but needs to face age appropriate competition to really develop.
Venezuelan OF Raymundo Moreno ($600,000), 17: .067/.125/.067 (-33 wRC) in six DSL games. Standout defensive center fielder with bat speed and a knack for trying to muscle up for power at the plate.
Venezuelan OF Pablo Olivares ($400,000), 17: .267/.370/.359 (116 wRC+) in 32 DSL games. Another great defender in center with excellent athleticism. His line drive approach doesn’t project to produce much power down the road.
Venezuelan IF Danienger Perez ($300,000), 19: .245/.311/.382 (104 wRC+) in 69 games between the DSL, GCL, and Short Season Staten Island. Perez is a slap-hitting defense first prospect.

The Yankees also signed Venezuelan RHP Servando Hernandez ($200,000), Venezuelan IF Wander Hernandez (unknown), and Dominican LHP Luis Pache (unknown) during the 2014-15 international signing period, but I can’t find any information on them. They didn’t play at all in 2015. It’s possible their contract agreements hit a snag, maybe due to age and identity issues. That stuff still happens on occasion even though MLB enlisted Sandy Alderson to crack down a few years back.

* * *

International free agency is a much different animal than the amateur draft. International prospects usually sign at 16 years old, so we’re talking sophomore in high school age. They’re very raw, and while recent pop-up leagues have helped, there’s not much high-caliber competition in Latin America. These kids aren’t on the high school showcase circuit strutting their stuff against other top high school talent from around the country, you know?

All the players the Yankees signed during the 2014-15 signing period are just starting their pro careers. One season — it’s not even a full season, these guys played in short season leagues this year and are lucky to have 60 games under their belt — doesn’t tell us a whole lot. You’ve got to start somewhere though. That no one suffered a catastrophic injury or went through a growth spurt that sapped their athleticism makes year one a success.

Farm System Offers Some Help Now, More Help Later [2015 Season Preview]

March 30, 2015 by Mike 315 Comments

Two years ago, the Yankees had a miserable season down in the farm system, with several top prospects either getting hurt, underperforming, or simply failing to move forward in their development. When big leaguer after big leaguer went down with an injury, the farm system had little to no help to offer. It was bad enough that Hal Steinbrenner and his staff essentially audited the player development system after the season, though they only made procedural changes.

Things were not nearly as bad last year, though they weren’t as good as they could have been either. Having three first round picks in the 2013 draft helped infuse high-end talent, and several other young lower level players took quicker than expected steps forward in their development. That didn’t stop the team from replacing longtime VP of Baseball Ops Mark Newman and farm director Pat Roessler, both of whom were let go last October. (Newman retired, but his contract was up and all indications are he wasn’t going to be brought back anyway.)

Gary Denbo, who has worn many hats with the Yankees over the years, was tabbed as Newman’s replacement and he now oversees the player development system. (His official title is vice president of player development.) Eric Schmitt dropped the “assistant” from his old assistant director of minor league operations title and was promoted this offseason. Several other coaching and development staff changes were made as well, including the return of Greg Colbrunn (Low-A hitting coach) and Eric Duncan (Short Season defensive coach).

The Yankees are hoping those changes lead to a more productive farm system and soon. Joe Girardi, Brian Cashman, and Steinbrenner all said his past offseason that young players were going to play a big role in the franchise going forward, which makes sense given Hal’s plan to get under the luxury tax threshold in two years or so. The system isn’t quite ready to graduate impact talent to the big league level, but there are several of those types of prospects on the horizon for 2016. Time to look ahead to the coming year in the minors.

The Top Prospects: Bird, Clarkin, Judge, Sanchez, Severino

You can rank them in whatever order, but I think most will agree 1B Greg Bird, LHP Ian Clarkin, OF Aaron Judge, C Gary Sanchez, and RHP Luis Severino are the five best prospects in the system. Judge and Severino are a notch above the other three thanks to their sky high upside, though Cashman recently called Bird “by far the best hitter” in the organization and Clarkin might have the highest probability of the bunch. Sanchez has been around seemingly forever and I think people are getting sick of him, yet he just put up a 108 wRC+ at age 21 as an everyday catcher at Double-A. That’s pretty impressive.

Severino is the sexy flame-throwing starter, but I consider Judge the more exciting and more polished prospect. He’s shown much better contact skills and a better approach than even the Yankees realized he had when they draft him 32nd overall in 2013, plus he also has huge raw power and is an asset defensively in right field. Judge needs to learn when to turn it loose so he can best tap into that power, but otherwise he’s a very complete prospect. Severino has big upside but still needs to improve his breaking ball and delivery.

With it looking more and more likely Sanchez will return to Double-A Trenton for yet another season, four of the Yankees’ top five prospects will be with the Thunder to start the 2015 season. Only Clarkin won’t be there — he’s slated to open the season with High-A Tampa, and while he could be promoted to Trenton later in the summer, the other four guys could be bumped up to Triple-A Scranton by then. Between Bird, Judge, Sanchez, Severino, and others like 3B Eric Jagielo and OF Jake Cave, Double-A is going to be a very fun affiliate to watch this summer.

Ready To Help Now: Flores, Lindgren, Pirela, Refsnyder

Inevitably, the Yankees will need help from within this year. Someone’s going to get hurt, someone’s going to underperform, and the team will have to dip into the farm system for help. UTIL Jose Pirela suffered a concussion running into the outfield wall a week ago, but before that he was first in line to be called up whenever infield or outfield help is needed. His defense isn’t good anywhere; Pirela’s simply hit his way into the MLB picture.

With Pirela hurt, OF Ramon Flores figures to be first in line should outfield reinforcements be needed. I get the feeling Flores is going to spend about ten years in the league as a left-handed platoon outfielder, a Seth Smith type. He’s not a flashy prospect but he can hit, especially righties, and won’t kill his team in the field. 2B Rob Refsnyder isn’t ready for the big leagues defensively, but the Yankees could stick him at second base on an everyday basis this year and no one would think they’re crazy. He’s done nothing but hit since turning pro. Refsnyder just needs more reps on the infield after playing the outfield in college.

LHP Jacob Lindgren is New York’s best bullpen prospect and the most MLB ready, so much so that I think he should be on the Opening Day roster. Yeah, he could probably use a little more minor league time — Lindgren has yet to play at Triple-A, for what’s it worth — to work on his command, which is why he was sent to minor league camp yesterday, but Lindgren can get big leaguers out right now if the Yankees need him to. Pirela made his MLB debut last September and I expect Flores, Refsnyder, and Lindgren to make their debuts this year, sooner rather than later.

Ready To Help Soon: Austin, Bird, Judge, Rumbelow, Severino

As I mentioned earlier, much of the Yankees’ potential impact talent is likely to arrive in 2016, not 2015, including Bird, Judge, and Severino. I wouldn’t be surprised if Severino debuts this summer though. The Yankees have moved him very aggressively. RHP Nick Rumbelow is also likely to debut in 2015 as a strikeout heavy reliever, though he wasn’t as much of an Opening Day roster candidate as Lindgren. OF Tyler Austin figures to be a September call-up after spending the summer roaming the outfield with Triple-A Scranton.

Getting a cup of coffee and being ready to contribute are different things, however. Guys like Lindgren, Refsnyder, and Pirela are able to help the Yankees at the MLB level right away, at least in some aspects of the game. Others like Bird, Judge, Austin, and Severino aren’t big league ready and the Yankees shouldn’t plan on calling them up for help this year. They all need more seasoning in the minors. Next year we’ll be talking about them as players ready to help at the MLB level. They’re not ready at this very moment though.

Rumblin' Rumbelow. (Presswire) — Rumblin’ Rumbelow. (Presswire)

Breakout Candidates: DeCarr, Hensley, Mateo

You could make the case SS Jorge Mateo broke out last year, albeit in only 15 rookie ball games, but I think he has top 100 prospect in the game potential. Mateo, 19, is insanely fast with surprising power and a good approach at the plate to go with strong defensive chops at short. He received a ton of love last year and a full, healthy season in 2015 could have him atop New York’s prospect list and ranked among the best shortstop prospects in baseball.

RHP Ty Hensley’s career has been slowed considerably by injuries, most notably two hip surgeries and a hernia that caused him to miss the entire 2013 season and the start of 2014 as well. He is healthy now and I get the sense the Yankees are ready to turn him loose with Low-A Charleston. Get him out there and let him pitch as much as possible early in the year just to make sure he gets those innings in, know what I mean? If they have to shut Hensley down in August to control his workload, so be it. He needs to make up for all the lost development time.

RHP Austin DeCarr was the Yankees’ third round pick last summer and is surprisingly refined for a kid just a year out of high school, throwing three good pitches (fastball, curveball, changeup) for strikes. It’s unclear where the club will send DeCarr to start the season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he opened the year alongside Hensley in Charleston’s rotation. Other potential breakout candidates include OF Mark Payton, RHP Gabe Encinas, OF Leonardo Molina, OF Alex Palma, and SS Angel Aguilar.

Sleepers: Acevedo, De La Rosa, Haynes

Over the last few weeks RHP Domingo Acevedo has generated some buzz for his imposing frame (listed at 6-foor-7 and 190 lbs.) and a fastball that has touched triple digits. Perhaps he’s more of a breakout candidate than a sleeper? Is there a difference? Who knows. Anyway, Acevedo’s size and stuff make him super interesting, though his full season debut is likely a year away. He’s a deep sleeper.

RHP Kyle Haynes is a more traditional sleeper. The 24-year-old reliever came over from the Pirates in the Chris Stewart trade and has good stuff, specifically a mid-90s fastball and an average-ish slider. Command holds him back, which along with his age and role is the reason you haven’t heard much about him. The Yankees have had some success getting these big stuff, bad command guys to throw strikes in recent years (Shane Greene most notably), and Haynes could be next.

The most intriguing sleeper — even moreso than Acevedo — in my opinion is RHP Simon De La Rosa. The 21-year-old is a late bloomer who didn’t sign until age 19 in 2013 — he received a measly $50,000 bonus at that — but he packs mid-90s heat into his 6-foot-3, 185 lb. frame and also throws a curveball and a changeup. Despite his age, I don’t think the Yankees will aggressively move De La Rosa up the ladder because he’s so raw. The tools are there for a quality pitching prospect though.

The New Batch: DeLeon, Emery, Garcia, Gomez

Last summer the Yankees went on an unprecedented spring spree and signed many of the top available international prospects. I haven’t seen a final number anywhere, but estimates have the club shelling out more than $30M between bonuses and penalties. The two best prospects the Yankees signed are OF Juan DeLeon and 3B Dermis Garcia, though 3B Nelson Gomez, OF Bryan Emery, OF Jonathan Amundary, and C Miguel Flames are among the other notables. These guys will all make their pro debuts this season. That’s a big talent infusion in such a short amount of time.

Last Chance?: Campos, Heathcott, Williams

As is the case every year, the Yankees have several former top prospects facing make or break seasons in 2015. RHP Vicente Campos is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and is only throwing bullpen sessions now, so he’s unlikely to return to the mound until midseason. He’s thrown just 111.2 innings over the last three years. OF Slade Heathcott played only nine games in 2014 due to a pair of knee surgeries. He’s looked healthy in camp and needs to finally have a full season in 2015. Both Campos and Heathcott were non-tendered this offseason and re-signed to minor league contracts.

Some have called this a make or break season for Sanchez but I don’t agree with that at all. His defense needs to progress, absolutely, but he’s consistently been an above-average hitter throughout his career despite being three-ish years young for the level each step of the way. OF Mason Williams is definitely facing a make or break year, on the other hand. He hasn’t hit and has had to be benched for lack of effort on multiple occasions. Williams certainly doesn’t lack tools, he just hasn’t displayed the makeup and work ethic needed to be a big leaguer. More of the same will end his time as a prospect. Talent is important, but it will only buy you so many chances if you don’t put he work in.

With no Yoan Moncada, Dermis Garcia and Juan DeLeon headline Yankees’ international haul

February 27, 2015 by Mike 137 Comments

As you know, the Yankees missed out on Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada earlier this week. He took a $31.5M bonus from the Red Sox. It’s disappointing but at this point there’s nothing to say that hasn’t already been said. The Yankees didn’t strike out internationally this year just because they didn’t get Moncada though. Far from it.

When the signing period opened last July, New York spent roughly $30M in bonuses and penalties within the first day or two. As you can imagine, ranking 16-year-old kids as prospects is a fool’s errand, but the consensus is the Yankees signed many of the top talents. Here’s part of a table from my international free agency recap showing the team’s top five international signings (by bonus) with the corresponding Baseball America and MLB.com rankings:

Player	Bonus	Baseball America	MLB.com
SS Dermis Garcia	$3.2M	9th	1st
3B Nelson Gomez	$2.25M	6th	2nd
OF Juan DeLeon	$2M	2nd	5th
OF Jonathan Amundaray	$1.5M	22nd	7th
SS Wilkerman Garcia	$1.35M	7th	14th

Baseball America says the Yankees signed four of the top nine available prospects while MLB.com says they signed four of the top seven, including the top two. MLB.com’s rankings paint a rosier picture but who the hell knows. Two years ago SS Jorge Mateo was a small bonus ($250,000) afterthought who is now one of the top shortstop prospects in the game. When it comes to prospects, no one knows anything, and that goes double for 16-year-old international guys.

Anyway, I looked through the various scouting reports soon after the Yankees signed all these guys and developed some personal favorites. Everyone does that, right? I’m not weird or anything. Based on the reports, the two who stood out to me as the most exciting prospects were Garcia and DeLeon. Both Baseball America and MLB.com ranked them very highly, especially DeLeon, and in the 2015 Prospect Handbook, DeLeon (No. 24) and Garcia (No. 25) were the only members of last year’s international haul to crack the Yankees’ top 30 prospects. I feel validated!

MLB.com’s scouting reports are free, so I’m going to blockquote them. Here’s a snippet of their report on DeLeon, which says he has average or better tools across the board, include grade 60 (on the 20-80 scouting scale) hit, power, and arm tools:

There’s a belief that DeLeon might have the best all-around combination of tools and body among outfielders in this year’s class from the Dominican Republic. Evaluators often use words like “explosive” and “electric” to describe the outfielder’s skill set, and some view him as a potential five-tool player … DeLeon, who played in the Dominican Prospect League, has also been praised for his above-average bat speed, accurate arm and raw power … The consensus is that DeLeon does everything well and has a chance to be an impact player. Scouts are keeping an eye on the development of his hit tool, because it might dictate how fast he moves through a Minor League system.

The reports sounds great and the offensive tools are exciting. DeLeon is listed at 6-foot-1 and 175 lbs., and here’s some video from Instructional League that shows his projectable frame and “explosive” bat speed:

DeLeon is a classic “you can dream on this guy” international prospect. He looks great in a uniform and his overall physicality is impressive, at least to my untrained eye. DeLeon is the kind of prospect who appears to have the potential to do a little bit of everything down the road. Hit for average, hit for power, steal a few bases, and play the hell out of center field. Maybe right field, but either way, he looks like the total package.

Garcia is not the same kind of prospect. He’s a bat first guy. MLB.com listed him at 6-foot-2 and 182 lbs., but the 2015 Prospect Handbook notes he’s already gained 15 lbs. since signing. Here is part of his MLB.com scouting report, which gives him 55 hit and 65 power grades but below-average speed (35) and defense (45):

Some scouts believe he has the best power and the best arm in the entire class of international prospects this year … Evaluators like Garcia’s bat speed and his easy power. Some believe he’s going to have a plus arm in the future … Garcia is not the fastest baserunner, but he’s a smart baseball player and will not run into any outs on the bases … There is room for improvement on defense, and Garcia is expected to become a more disciplined hitter with experience, but there is no denying that he is one of the most talented prospects on the market this year. He has also gained a reputation as a hard worker and has the potential to be a team leader.

Even before he signed, there was talk Garcia would have to move off shortstop and over to third base. Since he’s already added weight since signing, that move is even more likely. Here’s video of Garcia from last year and you can immediately see the difference between him and DeLeon. DeLeon’s swing has that explosiveness, but Garcia’s is much more fluid and controlled (/amateur scout):

Garcia and DeLeon are two different types of players and they seem to cover the wide range of international prospects — one is a toolsy guy who can do everything and the other is a bat first guy with big offensive upside.

If the system worked the way it was intended to work, the Yankees would have been able to sign only one of these two. Probably DeLeon because their bonus pool was only $2.19M and Garcia received a $3.2M bonus. Had they not decided to make a mockery of the system and spend like crazy, their international haul would have been something like DeLeon and bunch of third tier guys. Instead, it’s DeLeon, Garcia, Nelson Gomez, and several other top talents.

Let’s face it, without Moncada, the team’s international haul for the 2014-15 signing period feels sort of incomplete, which sucks because the Yankees added some serious talent, including Garcia and DeLeon. This isn’t a talent class that should be viewed negatively. It’s a potentially franchise altering haul, that’s how it was viewed before anyone knew who Moncada was, and that’s it should continue to be viewed. Garcia and DeLeon are the best (in my opinion) of a group of players who will shape the backbone of the farm system going forward.