OC Register: Angels add shortstop Joswa Lugo among 15 international signings

[AngelsWin.com]

Shortstop Joswa Lugo, a Dominican shortstop with a powerful bat, was the Angels’ top signee among the 15 players they inked on the first day of the international signing period on Monday.

Lugo, 16, reportedly received a $2.3 million signing bonus, the largest among the Angels’ signees. Lugo was rated the No. 8 international prospect in this year’s class by Baseball America, and he was No. 37 by MLB Pipeline.

The Angels also spent $685,000 on Dominican outfielder Hayden Alvarez and $575,000 for Dominican shortstop Greylin De La Paz. Alvarez was ranked No. 63 and De La Paz was ranked No. 70 by Baseball America. The Angels also signed No. 87 Humberto Tibieri, a catcher from Venezuela.

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The Angels also signed right-hander Jhostin Betances (Dominican Republic), catcher José Camacho (Venezuela), right-hander Daniel Colina (Venezuela), right-hander Dioris De la Rosa (Dominican Republic), outfielder Wilberson De Pena (Dominican Republic), right-hander Jhasir Flores (Panama), right-hander Fabian Gallardo (Venezuela), right-hander Kauriel Leon (Dominican Republic), right-hander Cristopher Montilla (Venezuela), catcher Marlon Quintero (Panama) and outfielder Manuel Silva (Venezuela).

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[Stradling]

So 4 of the top 100 International prospects. 

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

So 4 of the top 100 International prospects. 

Even better, 4 of top 87

[Inside Pitch]

PSA time.

Ronald Acuna failed to rank among the top prospects in his international signing class. Kevin Maitan was the next Miguel Cabrera.

Just keep signing people.

[Angels in 2030]

50 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

PSA time.

Ronald Acuna failed to rank among the top prospects in his international signing class. Kevin Maitan was the next Miguel Cabrera.

Just keep signing people.

So we signed 4 busts and 11 future Acuna's -- i'll take it! 

[DMVol]

I still think the inactivity in the International market under Reagins has had as much to do with this awful decade as anything else. Not sure I’ve ever understood the reason or reasons but it has been a killer. If just 2/3 of the guys we could have signed pan out, it could have made a big difference. And I don’t mean not signing a Baldoquin over Vlad Jr….as IP says, it’s a crap shoot, stuff happens…but if we had signed a normal amount of guys in that Reagins timeframe, particularly from DR and the usual pipelines in Latin America, odds are a few would have panned out….but we totally shut down….

[Angel Oracle]

28 minutes ago, DMVol said:

I still think the inactivity in the International market under Reagins has had as much to do with this awful decade as anything else. Not sure I’ve ever understood the reason or reasons but it has been a killer. If just 2/3 of the guys we could have signed pan out, it could have made a big difference. And I don’t mean not signing a Baldoquin over Vlad Jr….as IP says, it’s a crap shoot, stuff happens…but if we had signed a normal amount of guys in that Reagins timeframe, particularly from DR and the usual pipelines in Latin America, odds are a few would have panned out….but we totally shut down….

Blame the POS, former int’l scouting director Clay Daniels.

[Inside Pitch]

37 minutes ago, DMVol said:

I still think the inactivity in the International market under Reagins has had as much to do with this awful decade as anything else. Not sure I’ve ever understood the reason or reasons but it has been a killer. If just 2/3 of the guys we could have signed pan out, it could have made a big difference. And I don’t mean not signing a Baldoquin over Vlad Jr….as IP says, it’s a crap shoot, stuff happens…but if we had signed a normal amount of guys in that Reagins timeframe, particularly from DR and the usual pipelines in Latin America, odds are a few would have panned out….but we totally shut down….

Nothing was more damaging or set the franchise further back.  From the Clay Daniel scandal until Eppler showed up the Angels Latin American presence was dead last.  They were trading away international money until he arrived.

[Rollinghard]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

PSA time.

Ronald Acuna failed to rank among the top prospects in his international signing class. Kevin Maitan was the next Miguel Cabrera.

Just keep signing people.

Is scouting really that much of a crap shoot? If I was a scout, one thing I would do is have have batters face pitching machine throwing 105 plus mph. If they cant hit the ball they are eliminated. May sound over simplified but many hitters with "good swings" can't hit velo. 

[Inside Pitch]

34 minutes ago, Rollinghard said:

Is scouting really that much of a crap shoot? If I was a scout, one thing I would do is have have batters face pitching machine throwing 105 plus mph. If they cant hit the ball they are eliminated. May sound over simplified but many hitters with "good swings" can't hit velo. 

In Latin America?  Yes...  Much more than the US.  Most of these guys are in academies by age 14 and signed by age 16, so the margin for error is huge.

The flip side is that it's as close to free labor as MLB will ever be able to find.  So, sign as many as possible.

[ThisismineScios]

Look at the list from 2017. These guys would be in the age 22-24 range right now. I follow baseball pretty well and I've highlighted the players I've even heard of. I'm sure others on AW know about more of these guys, but the point is very few of these guys are setting the world on fire...6-7 years later. 

 

1. Wander Samuel Franco, SS, Dominican Republic - Rays ($3,825,000) More »
2. Daniel Flores, C, Venezuela - Red Sox ($3,100,000) More »
3. Jelfry Marte, SS, Dominican Republic - Twins ($3,000,000) More »
4. Everson Pereira, OF, Venezuela - Yankees ($1,500,000) More »
5. Eric Pardinho, RHP, Brazil - Blue Jays ($1,400,000) More »
6. Raimfer Salinas, OF, Venezuela
7. Luis Garcia, SS, Dominican Republic - Phillies ($2,500,000) More »
8. Antonio Cabello, C, Venezuela
9. Julio Rodriguez, OF, Dominican Republic - Mariners ($1,750,000) More »
10. Ronny Mauricio, SS, Dominican Republic - Mets ($2,100,000) More »
11. Ronny Rojas, SS, Dominican Republic
12. Ynmanol Marinez, SS, Dominican Republic - Marlins ($1,500,000) More »
13. Danny Diaz, SS, Venezuela - Red Sox ($1,600,000) More »
14. Larry Ernesto, OF, Dominican Republic - Brewers ($1,800,000) More »
15. Kristian Robinson, OF, Bahamas - D-backs ($2,550,000) More »
16. Roberto Chirinos, SS, Venezuela - Yankees ($900,000) More »
17. Miguel Hiraldo, SS, Dominican Republic - Blue Jays ($750,000) More »
18. Adrian Hernandez, SS, Dominican Republic - Mets ($1,500,000) More »
19. Keyber Rodriguez, SS, Venezuela - Rangers ($1,000,000) More »
20. Antoni Flores, SS, Venezuela - Red Sox ($1,400,000) More »
21. George Valera, OF, Dominican Republic - Indians ($1,300,000) More »
22. Aaron Bracho, SS, Venezuela - Indians ($1,500,000) More »
23. Alvaro Gonzalez, SS, Venezuela - Tigers ($1,000,000) More »
24. Osleivis Basabe, SS, Venezuela
25. Wildred Patino, OF, Venezuela
26. Juan Querecuto, SS, Venezuela - Mariners ($1,225,000) More »
27. Damian Mendoza, RHP, Mexico - Rangers ($1,000,000) More »
28. Carlos Rodriguez, OF, Venezuela - Brewers ($1,355,000) More »
29. Stir Candelario, OF, Dominican Republic
30. Luis Verdugo, SS, Mexico - Cubs ($1,000,000) 

[Angel Oracle]

A large factor has to be many of the int’l players signing at age 16, vs HS players signing at age 18.

A lot can change in the age 16 and 17 years for prospects.

Look at Daniel Flores (#2 rated int’l prospect in the previous post).  Hasn’t played in the states in the minors since 2019.

Look at Jeffry Marte (#3 rated int’l prospect in the previous post).  Approaching age 23, and has a sub .600 career OPS in the minors.

Look at Everson Pereira (#4 rated int’l prospect in the previous post).  Approaching age 23, he has had good success in the minors, but at age 22 over 101 MLB at bats he put up a .427 OPS.

Very few of those other previously listed players has been heard from.

Edited January 16 by Angel Oracle

[greginpsca]

Post Daniels fiasco, have the Angels had a  international player they scouted and signed and developed make it to the majors? 

 

[DMVol]

1 hour ago, greginpsca said:

Post Daniels fiasco, have the Angels had a  international player they scouted and signed and developed make it to the majors? 

Not sure of the signing dates but Suarez and Barria? 

[Angel Oracle]

Soriano

[Jason]

This is probably the big off season splash 

[greginpsca]

Just now, Angel Oracle said:

Soriano

Thought of him, but he went to Pittsburgh,  then Angels dumpster dived to bring him back.

[Dave Saltzer]

18 hours ago, Rollinghard said:

Is scouting really that much of a crap shoot? If I was a scout, one thing I would do is have have batters face pitching machine throwing 105 plus mph. If they cant hit the ball they are eliminated. May sound over simplified but many hitters with "good swings" can't hit velo. 

Absolutely! Not only are most of these players signing at 16-18, many of their deals have been worked out years in advance. So, you are truly projecting off of 13-15 year old players. You are talking middle school and high school players. That's a LOT of projection, not only in the physical side, but on the mental side. 

 

Think of yourself at 16 to 18, committing to baseball and weights 8-10 hours a day in an academy, moving to an entirely different country, with a different language, and how you would handle all the changes. Not only do scouts have to project the physical tools, but the mental tools as well. 

 

I have talked with many of them in Spanish, and they talk about being homesick, missing girlfriends, children, family, food, etc. Want to win a friend for life? Bring some good black beans, rice, plantains, etc for the Latin players. They will aprreciste it like you would appreciate an ice cold Coca Cola after living on a deserted isle for a few years. 

[Dave Saltzer]

19 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Blame the POS, former int’l scouting director Clay Daniels.

Daniel's really didn't do anything that a lot of other international directors did or were doing at the time (or so I've been told by many in the industey). Except, he got caught and MLB made an example of him. 

 

However, after that, we ignored the International Market, particularly the Latin market for a decade, setting our franchise back about 2 decades (once reputation is lost, and facilities go to hell, it's a lot harder to get top tiered Latin talent). I have always been very critical of the organization's lack of international presence and the organizations lack of scouting and player development. 

 

If I owned the Angels, I would immediately double or more the scouting budget, especially international scouting, and more than double the budget for player development. 

 

Having gotten to really see the insides of the different minor league teams, there are very specific things that I would do that would greatly enhance the overall organization, yield more from our drafts, and save the team lots of money over the long haul, as well as producing more Major League players. 

[Inside Pitch]

On 1/17/2024 at 8:08 AM, Dave Saltzer said:

Daniel's really didn't do anything that a lot of other international directors did or were doing at the time (or so I've been told by many in the industey). Except, he got caught and MLB made an example of him. 

Sorry, my response will likely come off a bit harsh but pretty much everything you said is incorrect and either the people you spoke to had no idea what actually happened or were gaslighting you hard.

Daniel, along with James Wilder, Jorge Oquendo and Jim Bowden were the primary focus under investigation by the FBI. MLB only became aware of the BS after the DOJ requested the financial/payroll records from the Reds, CWS, and Angels. MLB didn't choose to make Daniel an example, it was all brought to light by a Federal investigation that resulted in jail time.

Wilder was fired by the CWS after being followed and caught attempting to re-enter the country with 40K in cash. Bowden resigned as GM of the Nationals (Oquendo had started his BS while he worked under Bowden in Cinci, where Daniel also been a scout). Wilder was eventually sentenced to two years in federal prison after admitting to mail fraud in the scheme, and the 40K in his luggage. Oquendo got a year as did an underling of his. Bowden and Jose Rijo were eventually cleared of wrongdoing.

The White Sox guys; Wilder, scouts Domingo Toribo,and Victor Mateo, were far and away the most guilty but where they differed from what Daniel did is that they basically cut deals with the players and were getting kick-backs.  Daniel was found to have lied to the players - he offered them less money than had been actually authorized to them, essentially pocketing the difference. That very BIG difference is what hurt the Angels.  Where the common thought process in the DR and Venezuela at the time was that kick-backs, either to scouts or buscones (who cut deals with scouts), was part of the "cost of doing business", what Daniel did (mostly in Venezuela), was flat out steal from the players.

Thats why the Angels suffered aferwards.  They were labeled as crooks and untrustworthy in a part of baseball world where gaining a player's trust is vital and the first step in the process -- they were essentially blackballed.  Players wouldn't even TALK to the Angels guys for a long time and buscones basically steered everyone away from them since they felt THEY had been cheated even more given they tended to take a huge portion of the player's bonuses as part of their "expenses" for housing/training them.

Yes they essentially gave up and stayed out of the market, but it was 100% a response to how they were viewed immediately after the BS went down.

[ettin]

14 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Sorry, my response will likely come off a bit harsh but pretty much everything you said is incorrect and either the people you spoke to had no idea what actually happened or were gaslighting you hard.

Daniel, along with James Wilder, Jorge Oquendo and Jim Bowden were the primary focus and were under investigation by the FBI. MLB only became aware of the BS after the DOJ requested the financial/payroll records of from the Reds, CWS, and Angels.  MLB didn't choose to make Daniel an example, it was all brought to light by a Federal investigation that resulted in jail time.

Wilder was fired by the CWS after being followed and caught attempting to re-enter the country with 40K in cash. Bowden resigned as GM of the Nationals (Oquendo had started his BS while he worked under Bowden in Cinci, where Daniel also been a scout). Wilder was eventually sentenced to two years in federal prison after admitting to mail fraud in the scheme, and the 40K in his luggage. Oquendo got a year as did an underling of his. Bowden and Jose Rijo were eventually cleared of wrongdoing.

The White Sox guys; Wilder, scouts Domingo Toribo,and Victor Mateo, were far and away the most guilty but where they differed from what Daniel did is that they basically cut deals with the players and were getting kick-backs.  Daniel was found to have lied to the players - he offered them less money than had been actually authorized to them, essentially pocketing the difference. That very BIG difference is what hurt the Angels.  Where the common thought process in the DR and Venezuela at the time was that kick-backs, either to scouts or buscones (who cut deals with scouts), was part of the "cost of doing business", what Daniel did (mostly in Venezuela), was flat out steal from the players.

Thats why the Angels suffered aferwards.  They were labeled as crooks and untrustworthy in a part of baseball world where gaining a player's trust is vital and the first step in the process -- they were essentially blackballed.  Players wouldn't even TALK to the Angels guys for a long time and buscones basically steered everyone away from them since they felt THEY had been cheated even more given they tended to take a huge portion of the player's bonuses as part of their "expenses" for housing/training them.

Yes they essentially gave up and stayed out of the market, but it was 100% a response to how they were viewed immediately after the BS went down.

You're such an a**hole!!! 

[DCAngelsFan]

16 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

...

Daniel was found to have lied to the players - he offered them less money than had been actually authorized to them, essentially pocketing the difference. That very BIG difference is what hurt the Angels.  Where the common thought process in the DR and Venezuela at the time was that kick-backs, either to scouts or buscones (who cut deals with scouts), was part of the "cost of doing business", what Daniel did (mostly in Venezuela), was flat out steal from the players.

Thats why the Angels suffered aferwards.  They were labeled as crooks and untrustworthy in a part of baseball world where gaining a player's trust is vital and the first step in the process -- they were essentially blackballed.  Players wouldn't even TALK to the Angels guys for a long time and buscones basically steered everyone away from them since they felt THEY had been cheated even more given they tended to take a huge portion of the player's bonuses as part of their "expenses" for housing/training them.

Yes they essentially gave up and stayed out of the market, but it was 100% a response to how they were viewed immediately after the BS went down.

I recall that's what he did, and I remember wondering at the time if the team "made good" on what he stole (or even could we?)

I know it's a little naive, but I just felt like the right thing for the club in the aftermath would be to pay back what he stole, and to do some public works to help repair our image, like open a new academy or something like.

So, I guess my question is, did we do anything like that?  Or did we just tuck tail and run?

 

[Inside Pitch]

32 minutes ago, DCAngelsFan said:

I recall that's what he did, and I remember wondering at the time if the team "made good" on what he stole (or even could we?)

I know it's a little naive, but I just felt like the right thing for the club in the aftermath would be to pay back what he stole, and to do some public works to help repair our image, like open a new academy or something like.

So, I guess my question is, did we do anything like that?  Or did we just tuck tail and run?

He avoided jail time and the kids were paid, not sure if the Angels stepped up or if it was part of the legal proceedings/agreements.  When the Angels fired him they completely broke off all communication.  They went out if their way to create space, which IMO was their smartest move.

The Daniel thing was big because he was viewed as one of the best talent evaluators in the game, he was exceedingly well connected and there was a lot of talk that he was a future GM. The list of people he was personally involved in signing was a who's who at the time.  Byung-Hyung Kim, Vicente Padilla, Alex Cintron,  Erubio Durazo, Chad Motolla, Kendrys, Aybar, Ervin Santana, Alexi Amarista, Alberto Callaspo, Alexi Casilla, Jose Arredondo, a bunch of Aussies, I forget the rest but the dude was at the top of his game, had won the scout of the year award in 2003 or 04 and then this happened.  Everyone in Latin America knew he was the Angels lead dog in Latin and that stink ruined everyone else's reputations. The buscones completely shut them out.

Info about the legal stuff was pretty hush hush, the Angels people just never spoke about it, they were all pretty embarrassed. As far as Daniel goes, he was either barred from or just never got the opportunity to work the amateur side of the game again. The DBacks hired him as a MLB scout, but my understanding was it was  ST type arrangement where he scouted for potential trade targets.  Last I heard he was working as a golf pro and eventually ran a golf club/resort.  He ruined his career.

Again, not sure what role the Angels may have played in making it right but their reputations were shot.  The end result was they shuttered their academy in VZ, the DR one fell into disrepair and they pretty much exited the market save for a few new hires that were brought in to forge new relationships with the buscones/families.  

It was brutal.

 

 

[Tank]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

The buscones completely shut them out.

i may be alone in this, but who are the buscones? is this some kind of latino mafia family running baseball academies in the caribbean? is it some type of new italian noodle, like a cousin to tagliatelle, and can i find it at olive garden? is it a secret password to enter into one of the cuban speak easy's?

[Inside Pitch]

29 minutes ago, Tank said:

i may be alone in this, but who are the buscones? is this some kind of latino mafia family running baseball academies in the caribbean? is it some type of new italian noodle, like a cousin to tagliatelle, and can i find it at olive garden? is it a secret password to enter into one of the cuban speak easy's?

Good question, not everyone is familiar with those slimeballs.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Buscone

From BR Bullpen

A buscone is a term used in the Dominican Republic to refer to people who peddle young baseball players to scouts for teams from Major League Baseball. The word comes from the verb "buscar" which means to look for, to search; it traces its roots to "thief" in old Spanish pirate tales. Buscones identify promising players, train them (primarily in areas like running and hitting for power that impress scouts, rather than in actual game mechanics), and then pocket a share of the signing bonus, often about a quarter. Buscones are often criticized by MLB sources, including some scouts, but are considered part of the business of baseball in the Dominican Republic.