Reds 2018-19 International Signing Period - Quickly coming to a close

[Kinsm]

Every year from July 2nd to June 15th of the next, the 30 MLB organizations combine to sign approximately 900 foreigners to initial uniform player contracts. Which means the Reds have approximately 9 weeks remaining in this years' signing period.

The Reds have signed the following 27 players. Their signing bonuses have not been released to the public (though fangraphs recently purchased this information and will eventually add it to their player pages). Nevertheless, we do know that none of the players received a bonus in excess of 300,000$ due to signing bonus restrictions they incurred from their acquisitions of Vladimir Gutierrez, Alfredo Rodriguez, and Jose Garcia.

The Reds probably aren't done signing eligible players, they typically sign at least a few more guys this late in the period (as pool $ is essentially use it or lose it - it doesn't carry over). We know, from the BOS, LAD, and MIA trades and the historical fact that nearly 75% of all IFA pool money is spent in the months of July and August; that they likely don't have much money remaining to spend. And it shouldn't be surprising to anyone to see them trade away the remainder in another minor league transaction soon.

Player Name - Pos - Date of Birth - Initial Signing - Bonus - Signed out of
Cabrera, Luis - IF - 1/18/2002 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
De La Cruz, Elly - IF - 1/11/2002 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Fernandez, Iivin - IF - 9/8/2001 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Lora, Thomas - IF - 11/2/2001 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Perez, Lenniell - IF - 2/3/2002 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Torres, Esmil - IF - 1/18/2002 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Alcantara, Wilmer Miguel - OF - 12/20/2001 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Geraldo, Jefferson - OF - 7/31/2002 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Tamares, Junior - OF - 9/26/2001 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Rodriguez, Fraudy - C - 9/8/2001 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Aquino, Luis - P - 6/19/2001 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Mey, Luis - P - 6/24/2001 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Ros, Roberto - P - 9/8/2001 - 7/2/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Pineda, Jose - OF - 2/10/1998 - 8/31/2018 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Aguilera, Gabriel - P - 8/19/2000 - 10/16/2018 - Unknown - Venezuela
Franco, Jose - P - 11/25/2000 - 10/16/2018 - Unknown - Venezuela
Yanez, Williams - P - 11/7/2001 - 10/16/2018 - Unknown - Venezuela
Rojas Jesus - P - 3/22/2002 - 12/29/2018 - Unknown - Venezuela
Salazar, Martin - P - 5/27/2000 - 12/29/2018 - Unknown - Venezuela
Vasquez, Armando - P - 5/4/2001 - 2/12/2019 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Reyes, Many - P - 9/29/2000 - 2/16/2019 - Unknown - Dominican Republic (Born in USA but raised in D.R.)
Alcantara, Eddy - P - 2/11/2000 - 2/28/2019 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Hiraldo, Jose - P - 8/24/2001 - 2/28/2019 - Unknown - Dominican Republic
Ovalles, Edison - C - 1/31/2002 - 3/3/2019 - Unknown - Venezuela
Castillo, Oswaldo - P - 6/11/2002 - 3/3/2019 - Unknown - Venezuela
Ramirez, Marwin - P - 9/10/2000 - 3/3/2019 - Unknown - Venezuela
Mendez, Willy - P - 3/27/2000 - 4/10/2019 - Unknown - Dominican Republic


*All 27 players are likely to begin the season in the Dominican Summer League, which starts in June.

**All of the above players will count towards the Reds 2018-19 international bonus pool (6,025,400$) which runs from July 2nd 2018 to June 15th 2019. Though, that bonus pool was reduced via trades (MIA SP Ryan Lillie - 750,000$ of pool space, BOS OF Lorenzo Cedrola - 1,500,000$ of pool space, and LAD SP James Marinan and LAD RP Aneurys Zabala - undisclosed$ of pool space).

(All international players not covered by the Rule 4 June Draft who turned 17 before September 1st, 2019 were eligible to sign during this period)

[Kinsm]

For comparison purposes, the Reds signed:

^19 IFA's for the July 2nd, 2017 to June 15th, 2018 time-frame
37 IFA's for the July 2nd, 2016 to June 15th, 2017 time-frame
43 IFA's for the July 2nd, 2015 to June 15th, 2016 time-frame
40 IFA's for the July 2nd, 2014 to June 15th, 2015 time-frame
35 IFA's for the July 2nd, 2013 to June 15th, 2014 time-frame
42 IFA's for the July 2nd, 2012 to June 15th, 2013 time-frame

^Last years' figure was much less due to the fact that the Reds eliminated a DSL club and they were restricted to bonuses of less than $300,000 due to going over the previous year's allotted pool.

[JaxRed]

Nice work. I'm used to seeing 17 year old kids, so when we see some that are 19....is it safe to assume they are the longest of these long shots?

[Kinsm]

Nice work. I'm used to seeing 17 year old kids, so when we see some that are 19....is it safe to assume they are the longest of these long shots?

When it comes to Dominicans you are correct. Albeit there are always exceptions (guys you hit the gym, guys who hit puberty late, guys who learn and master a new pitch, guys who were unhealthy get healthy) but most late teenage Dominican signees fail to ever amount to anything.

Now, Venezuela is a different animal. Due to the political situation there the past number of years, kids are being seen a lot less by scouts. So don't be shocked to see some late teens from that country, who had simply fallen through the scouting scene, become stars.

[Kinsm]

An additional note of importance, since someone asked me about it in a private message.

Bonuses of 10,000$ or less are exempt from the pools, as are players who are at least 25 and have played at least six seasons in a foreign professional league (E.G. Free Agents from: Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Cuba, Mexico, etc.).

[Kinsm]

The signing deadline for this IFA period is about a month away, since the signing announcement of the 27 players above the Reds have signed 2 additional players.

Player Name - Pos - Date of Birth - Initial Signing - Bonus - Signed out of
Lorant, Nestor - P - 5/4/2002 - 5/8/2019 - Unknown - Venezuela
Lopez, Jefferson - P - 2/18/2001 - 5/9/2019 - Unknown - Mexico


*To my knowledge, Lopez is the only one, of the twenty-nine international signees, slated to play stateside this season; as he'll play for the AZL and the other twenty-eight will go to the DSL.

[Kinsm]

The Reds wrapped up the signing year with two more signings that have been reported in other posts - so 31 in total for the period that runs July 2nd, 2018 to June 15th, 2019. The vast majority of the players have been assigned to the DSL, Pineda and Mey are currently with the AZL club and a handful have yet to be assigned.

Player Name - Pos - Date of Birth - Initial Signing - Bonus - Signed out of
Fransen, Arij - P - 5/20/2001 - 5/8/2019 - Unknown - Netherlands
Lopez, Misael - P - 5/8/2001 - 6/13/2019 - Unknown - Mexico


***The 2019-2020 signing period opens July 2nd and the Reds are no longer restricted to 300,000$ or less signings.

[brian5562]

Who on the list is worth keeping tabs on?

[WrongVerb]

nm