I think the addition of the Bristol Pirates is finally
making sense to me now. It is related to
how they are doing Latin American signings.
The Pirates are doing Latin American signings different than most every
other team. Perhaps it is motivated by
money. They are not spending big dollars
and are not incurring penalties like some teams are doing. They are pretty minor slaps on the wrist, and
would be worth it if it landed a big name.
But the Pirates are going to the other extreme. The Pirates are signing anyone they can get
their hands on.
Yes, the Pirates announced this week that they signed 18
people on July 2 this year. That is over
10 more people than originally thought.
No real high dollar signings, but money spread around over some young
guys and some old guys. The Pirates
again are not going above 6 figures and did not make a serious play for any big
names. The Pirates clearly believe sign
many, train hard, and see what turns up is a better fiscal policy than sign big
names and hope they are worth it.
The obvious example is Luis Heredia who signed for 3 million
and his chance of making the pros is now low, and if he does it will be as a
bullpen guy. You can add the bonuses of
Polanco and Marte and multiply by two and still not get close to Heredia’s
bonus. The Pirates cannot really afford
to miss big like this, especially in the new system where some penalties
happen. I know I said the penalties are
worth it, but they are only worth it if the guy you signed that busted the cap
is a success. And nothing is for
sure. So, the Pirates have decided not
to take the chance. The new way of doing
things is too new to see how it will play out.
Some are going to flop like Michael Del Cruz seems to be doing, but
Adrian Valerio is a man who looks to be a prospect. He signed for 400,000, and Cruz about the
same. And that is on the high side of
what the Pirates do now. But for less
than half what it took to sign Harold Ramirez and less than a third of what it
took to sign Heredia, the Pirates have a prospect and a dud. Same number of prospects at a much cheaper
rate, but it does require more warm bodies.
So this is why the Pirates are in need of a second Rookie
level club. They are going to be sending
a lot more talent up from Latin America.
In the past the GCL Rookie team was simply a place to put high schoolers
just drafted and some of the smaller college players along with the few who
were getting the promotion from the Dominican League. Now with lots more players expected to come
from the Dominican, another landing place is needed. Some of those smaller college guys can be
diverted to a slightly higher level of competition with the Appy Rookie League,
and maybe some guys who are not quite ready for Low A can move a half step in competition
rather than eating a slot by repeating with the GCL team (think Jhoan Herrera
this year). This is especially important
for pitchers.
Just look at an example from this year. In 2013 the Pirates signed Nestor Oronel when
he was 16 years old. He spent a year
playing for the DSL. 31 K’s with only 14
walks in 14 starts was good enough to have him come up in 2015 to the GCL. There he started 9 games and appeared in a
few more. Not a great performance as he
failed to win any games, but actually had a better WHIP. He was not ready for a move to Low A ball to
pitch against college hitters who were going to be 2 or more years older than
him. But the Pirates need to be looking
at new prospects, so Oronel moves up to the Appy league and start 8 games and
appear in more innings this year than last.
He recorded more strikeouts with 36.
Now he is still far from a prospect, but he will be 20 going into next
season. He may even need to start off in
the Appy League again. But, the fact he
did not need to eat a starting spot in the GCL helped pave the way for like
Miguel Hernandez. He was signed when 18
(I think), and spent a season in the Dominican and earned his way as a 20 year
old to pitch in the GCL where he started 9 games and appeared in one more. He is a bit wild, but won a couple of games
and did not give up as many hits as you might expect.
Since the Pirates are going with the more the merrier
approach in International signings, it is almost a necessity to have that extra
Rookie level team to evaluate the people as they go through the system.
It is a little early to tell if this approach is better than
chasing after big names in Latin America, but failure here will be a lot easier
to absorb as a system than failure like we see with Luis Heredia. For a financially strapped organization, I am
all for giving it a try.
