Lots of new faces to the Reds organization

[OnBaseMachine]

I was just looking through the Reds 2007 media guide and it appears the Reds signed a barrage of young Dominican and Venezuelan players during the offseason, and even an Australian and Panamanian. Not to mention the young lefty recently signed from Taiwan. Very good to see.

I'll post the list of the new faces in the Reds organization:

Venezuelans:

Jhonder Alvarez, ss, 5-10/160, age: 18
Wilfredo Bocaranda, lhp, 6-3/185, age: 19
Rafael Ceballos, rhp, 6-2/190, age: 18
Miguel Chacoa, inf, 5-11/165, age: 18
Cesar Colmenares, of, 6-1/160, age: 16
Jose Figuera, rhp, 6-5/175, age: 17
Carlos Figueroa, c, 6-1/175, age: 17
Fernando Gonzalez, rhp, 6-3/175, age: 17
Victor Navarro, rhp, 6-3/180, age: 18
Juan Palencia, rhp, 5-11/150, age: 16
Maurio Pimental, inf, 5-11/165, age: 18
Efrain Rodriguez, rhp, 6-2/175, age: 17

Dominicans

Juan Aquino, rhp, 6-1/175, age: 19
Diomendy Berroa, rhp, 6-4/195, age: 19
Rafael De La Rosa, lhp, 6-0/180, age: 18
Sergio Guerrero, of, 6-0/175, age: 19
Ezequiel Infante, lhp, 5-10/160, age: 18
Jose Marizan: lhp, 6-2/175, age:18
George Meran, inf, 5-10/155, age:17
Elvin Mercedes, rhp, 6-4/165, age: 18
Radhames Moreta, ss, 6-0/165, age: 20
Elvin Silvestre, rhp, 6-1/180, age: 17

Australian

Thomas Fiebig, rhp, 6-3/200, age:18

Czech Republic

Petr Cech, c, 5-10/185, age: 19

Taiwan

Tzu-Kai Chiu, lhp, 6-0/200, age: 19

Plus guys like Oscar Castro, Pedro Viola, Hector Santana, and hopefully Wirfin Obispo will be over here in the States this year.

[Superdude]

Wow. Is signing this many guys common? Hopefully the next Cueto is in there somewhere.

[OnBaseMachine]

What I like about that list, is the collection of young pitchers with very projectible bodies. Guys like Bocaranda, Figuera, Navarro, Berroa, Mercedes, and Fiebig fit into this category. Tall and lanky guys who have the potential to add another 3-4 mph to their fastball once their bodies mature and fill out.

[dougdirt]

Well, word out of Dayton Dragons Spring Training is that Ramon Geronimo pitched a scoreless inning today for the Dragons. Last season Geronimo pitched for the DSL Reds and put up ridiculous numbers (31.2 innings, 27 saves, 17 hits, 9 walks, 36 strikeouts, 0.28 ERA, .115 BAA). Looks like he was one of the guys to make the treck north this year to the States.

Geronimo is 6'0, 170 pounds and throws right handed.

[M2]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Well, word out of Dayton Dragons Spring Training is that Ramon Geronimo pitched a scoreless inning today for the Dragons. Last season Geronimo pitched for the DSL Reds and put up ridiculous numbers (31.2 innings, 27 saves, 17 hits, 9 walks, 36 strikeouts, 0.28 ERA, .115 BAA). Looks like he was one of the guys to make the treck north this year to the States.

Geronimo is 6'0, 170 pounds and throws right handed.

Geronimo, Obispo, Viola and Enerio Del Rosario were the stars on last year's Reds DSL team. De La Rosa could be interesting too.

Jhonder Alvarez interests me due to my long-standing fixation with Venezuelan shortstops.

[Shaknb8k]

Originally Posted by Superdude

Wow. Is signing this many guys common? Hopefully the next Cueto is in there somewhere.

This is the question I was really wondering about. Is this normal for teams that have an avg. latin american program?

What im asking is are these signings a sign that the Reds are finally getting back to where they should be with Latin American scouting or is this just normal?

[WMR]

How much money do these players normally receive to sign? Did most of these guys sign for a set amount?

[OnBaseMachine]

Bringing this back to the top for a minute to update a few guys.

16-year old Miguel Chacoa (of) hit .349/.443/.422 in the VSL this season. While not showing much power yet, he did flash some great plate discipline by walking 13 times compared to only 14 strikeouts in roughly 100 plate appearances. Not bad for a 16-year old. Oh, and he switch hits.

20-year old infielder David Hernandez hit .344/.405/.459 with a 18 bb/27 k ratio in 209 atbats. Look for him to be in the United States next year.

20-year old Efrain Contreras hit .323/.418/.506 between the DSL and VSL this season. He has shown the ability to take a walk and hit for power at a young age, which makes him someone to watch for next season.

And probably the most impressive of all was 19-year old Juan Aquino, who pitched in the DSL this year. In 62 innings, Aquino only allowed 42 hits, two homers, while displaying a 12 bb/62 strikeout ratio and a stingy 0.87 WHIP and 2.76 ERA. Hopefully he can follow in the footsteps of Johnny Cueto and become the next stud pitching prospect to come from Latin America.

[dougdirt]

Where was I when I overlooked Chacoa? Nice find.

[dougdirt]

I know why I overlooked Chachoa.... he is 18, not 16. Probably why I couldnt find him when looking at the ages on the roster for 16 year olds.

[OnBaseMachine]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

I know why I overlooked Chachoa.... he is 18, not 16. Probably why I couldnt find him when looking at the ages on the roster for 16 year olds.

Math never was my strongest subject.