2008 International Signings

[Mario-Rijo]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

According to a poster over on Doug's site, lefty Ismael Guillon signed with the Reds. According to the poster, Guillon turned down more money from the Mets and Braves to sign with the Reds because he's close with Yorman Rodriguez. If so, that makes the Reds International class even better. Guillon was ranked as the 13th best prospect available. Along with being a good pitching prospect Guillon is also considered a good hitting prospect with lots of power.

That's excellent news! How about the kid that S.F. nixed the contract on over elbow chips, anyone heard any updates on him?

[OnBaseMachine]

Great job by our buddy Doug on confirming the signing of Ismael Guillon! You're the man Doug.

Reds sign LHP Ismael Guillon
Sunday, October 26th, 2008 | Author: Doug Gray

Freddie posted in the comments that the Reds had signed Ismael Guillon, a LHP out of Venezuela during the signing period. No one else had confirmed it anywhere and the Reds had been rumored to have been involved with him, so I emailed around and got the answer we were looking for. The Reds did indeed sign him. SaberScouting.com rated him as the #13 International Prospect and below is their scouting report.

13. Ismael Guillon, LHP, Venezuela
Guillon is a big 6'3 lefthander that hasn’t been seen a whole lot, but has a good amount of polish for a 16 year old. He has a larger, more filled-out frame compared to fellow 6'3 Venezuelan hurler Portillo, and throws from the left side, but has a lower upside. Guillon works in the high 80s with his fastball and lacks bigtime projection, but has 3 workable pitches and some feel for pitching. He figures to get a bonus of about $700,000 as well.

http://redsminorleagues.com/

[OnBaseMachine]

And this comes from Freddie:

The agent (Ciro Barrios) for both these players confirmed that Ismael Guillon signed with the Reds via a scout I know in Venezuela. Yorman Rodriguez and Ismael Guillon are currently playing in the parallel league for the Magallanes winter ball team. Yorman is 2 for 7 in his 1st 2 games. You can follow them via the following website http://www.ligaparalela.com.ve
Go Reds

http://redsminorleagues.com/2008/10/.../#comment-5461

[OnBaseMachine]

Huge props to Freddie for that link. I never knew that league existed.

Yorman Rodriguez is 2-for-7 with a walk through two games. I'll try to post updates in here throughout the offseason.

[OnBaseMachine]

I forgot to mention this earlier, but I read a few days ago on a Mets blog that Guillon turned down $1.2 million from the Mets. Freddie said Guillon took less money to sign with the Reds so my best guess would be he signed with the Reds for around $1 million. If so, that would push the Reds total of money spent on six figure bonuses to up around the $6.7 million mark, which would be nearly $2 million more than anyone else.

[lollipopcurve]

This is all great news, and props to Doug for getting this information out via his site. A lot of these kids will not make it, but my guess is the Reds will get at least one good player out of this 08 foray into Latin America. When you look at the total investment of 6-7 million, it's not much different from a high first-round draft pick. Very happy to see the organization taking this approach to talent acquisition.

[camisadelgolf]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

I forgot to mention this earlier, but I read a few days ago on a Mets blog that Guillon turned down $1.2 million from the Mets. Freddie said Guillon took less money to sign with the Reds so my best guess would be he signed with the Reds for around $1 million. If so, that would push the Reds total of money spent on six figure bonuses to up around the $6.7 million mark, which would be nearly $2 million more than anyone else.

I forget where I read it, but I think Guillon wanted to come to the Reds because he's good friends with Yorman Rodriguez.

[OnBaseMachine]

Originally Posted by camisadelgolf

I forget where I read it, but I think Guillon wanted to come to the Reds because he's good friends with Yorman Rodriguez.

That's what Freddie from Doug's site said. BTW, does anyone know if a Dominican parallel league exists like the one in Venezuela? I was hoping to see if Duran was playing in one.

[OnBaseMachine]

I was doing some more reading on Guillon. Baseball America says he throws 90-91 mph but he's got a funky delivery that will need some tweaking. 90-91 is very good for a 16-year old lefty. He probably doesn't have the projection to get his fastball up to 95 but adding another mph or two isn't out of the question with some mechanical tweaks. He's also a first baseman with big power and a tendency to swing and miss a lot. I figure the Reds view him as a pitcher with first base as a fall-back option.

[OnBaseMachine]

Yorman Rodriguez went 2-for-4 today with a homer (#1), a walk, and 2 RBI. In 13 plate appearances, Yorman is hitting .364/.462/.636 - 1.098 OPS.

[lollipopcurve]

Yorman Rodriguez went 2-for-4 today with a homer (#1), a walk, and 2 RBI. In 13 plate appearances, Yorman is hitting .364/.462/.636 - 1.098 OPS.

The scouting reports included some that said his bat was pretty iffy, so this is nice to see.

[OnBaseMachine]

Reds Land Guillon

Posted Oct. 29, 2008 12:29 pm by J.J. Cooper
Filed under: International

After making a big splash by signing outfielders Yorman Rodriguez and Juan Duran, the Reds have added an intriguing international arm by signing lefthander Ismael Guillon.

Guillon was one of the last high profile prospects Premium from this year’s crop who had not signed around the July 2 international signing date.

Guillon, 16, has played first base and pitched for scouts, but the Reds interest came from his work on the mound. The 6-foot-3 lefthander has been clocked at between 88-92 mph. He also has an advanced changeup considering his age. Some scouts from other teams had concerns about his arm action and his delivery, which was described as funky, but the Reds believe he’s a relatively polished pitcher for a teenager who still has some projection left despite a relatively developed frame.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/

[OnBaseMachine]

*Bump*

In the Reds monthly organizational report on Baseball America, John Fay reported that Juan Duran and Yorman Rodriguez both showed up early to Spring Training camp. Terry Reynolds says right now they are working on conditioning and non-baseball things. He also says both will start the 2009 season in the Gulf Coast League.

[OnBaseMachine]

Speaking of International signings, hopefully soon we'll start hearing the names of some of the top prospects for the 2009 International class. I hope the Reds stay true to their word and remain very involved in the International scene like they were last year. I'm hoping they can add a couple more stud up-the-middle players, like a shortstop or a CFer/catcher and a big time pitcher would be nice. I wish they could've landed Michel Inoa last year...they were so close.

[jballachino]

wonder if the REDS will sign any big names this year