MLB.com says Twins favorite for Enmanuel Rodriguez

[Seth Stohs]

http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2019?list=int

 

MLB.com believes that the Twins are the favorites to land their #8 international prospect available this year after July 2nd. The left-handed outfielder is listed at 5-10 and 165 pounds.

 

He turned 16 years old on February 28th.

 

Learn more about him from the link above. 

[Thrylos]

I think that the Twins want to have a monopoly on Left hand hitting and throwing outfielders...

[GP830]

I always wonder why international players choose who they sign with. Seems like if it's just about the money, any team would be trying to sign the top ranked guy. 

 

I guess I don't understand why the highest guy the Twins are attached to is number 8? Is it solely a scouting thing?

[Han Joelo]

 

I always wonder why international players choose who they sign with. Seems like if it's just about the money, any team would be trying to sign the top ranked guy. 

 

I guess I don't understand why the highest guy the Twins are attached to is number 8? Is it solely a scouting thing?

So many vagaries in international scouting, especially of 14 and 15 years olds.  I'd like to think that he is #1 in the eyes of the scouts the Twins employ.  Or number one at the delta where "talent" and "signability" meet.  All prospect rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, this one especially.

[Mike Sixel]

Most of these kids are done deals a year or two before they can sign. So their current ranking is not necessarily indicative of what a team thought when they came to agreement.

[nicksaviking]

 

I always wonder why international players choose who they sign with. Seems like if it's just about the money, any team would be trying to sign the top ranked guy. 

 

I guess I don't understand why the highest guy the Twins are attached to is number 8? Is it solely a scouting thing?

 

There's clearly a method to this madness, but if someone wrote an article detailing the minutia of this process it would probably be interesting.

 

I'm sure the new spending limits are helping spread these prospects to all teams, but is it kind of a "dibs" situation with gentleman's agreements among clubs? How do small market and cold weather clubs talk these kids into signing? Is no other team offering as much, are the kids even involved in the decisions or is it all scouts, wanna-be agents and "handlers"? If the kid comes from a specific organization's academy, is he most likely to sign with them? Are these kids even at specific teams academies? Because they never seem to get mentioned in the write ups for the players.

[bird]

I'm guessing Enmanuel Rodriguez's name has been bandied about in Twins scouting meetings for a few years now. They most likely have a relationship with the kid's trainer. Relationships matter a lot.

 

The pool restrictions seem to be impacting things. I don't believe any team is a favorite to sign more than two (maybe three) of the thirty prospects ranked here by MLB.

 

Perhaps with an exception or two, these rankings should be viewed with vastly less credibility than draft rankings. These kids are so raw, and the adjustment and improvement path is uncertain to say the least.

[gunnarthor]

I don't know enough about this group of players to care who we sign so long as we use all our money.

[nicksaviking]

 

I don't know enough about this group of players to care who we sign so long as we use all our money.

 

Seeing as we're still about a decade away from seeing if these signings will pay off in any meaningful way, I have no problem with people getting excited (or disappointed) based solely on a ranking, if only to keep a discussion going. 

[bird]

 

I don't know enough about this group of players to care who we sign so long as we use all our money.

 

 

Yes. The only thing I want to continue to see is evidence that their talent evaluation, acquisition, and development efforts regarding foreign-born players are bearing fruit on the 25 man roster.

[DocBauer]

I always wonder why international players choose who they sign with. Seems like if it's just about the money, any team would be trying to sign the top ranked guy.

 

I guess I don't understand why the highest guy the Twins are attached to is number 8? Is it solely a scouting thing?

I know scouting any prospect, especially ones this young, absolutely has to be an arbitrary process. I would suspect that for the most part, you could a bunch of the "top 10" guys, throw them in a hat and pull out names for a ranking

 

But your point about where they sign is an interesting one. I would guess it's a lot like colleges recruiting young athletes. What scout or coach at a camp did you bond with?

 

I dont know how the Twins system ranks in regard to total percentage of Latin ballplayers, but I would speculate it's as high as anyone. And when you see guys on the ML roster like Rosario, Polanco, Sano, Berrios, etc, I would think the organization would have appeal.

[Seth Stohs]

 

[Seth Stohs]

 

I always wonder why international players choose who they sign with. Seems like if it's just about the money, any team would be trying to sign the top ranked guy. 

 

I guess I don't understand why the highest guy the Twins are attached to is number 8? Is it solely a scouting thing?

 

Yeah, if you follow mlb pipeline on twitter, they've been saying who the favorites are for their top 30 guys. As others have pointed out, these guys have been in agreements with teams probably for awhile, just can't sign until July 2nd. The other thing is that they only have a certain amound that they can spend, so they can't waste their time on guys who are already essentially committed already. Also, number 8 is pretty good. That's probably a $3 million guy.