Organization To Add Talent Through International Free Agency

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The Twins have failed to add much talent to the organization since the end of the season, but that is about to change.

Just not necessarily in a high-end signing like Carlos Correa. 

Instead, the Twins will add over a dozen 16- and 17-year-olds and we'll spend the next handful of years hoping they realize their potential.

No one was ever sure we'd get to this point with International Free Agency again, if we're being honest. It was the last sticking point in the CBA negotiations. But instead of letting it cause the lockout to continue, they added a summer deadline to continue to discuss an International Draft. An agreement would have ended tying the signing of some free agents to the loss of draft picks, but there was no agreement.

So here we are. 

We've transitioned from a July 2 start date of International Free Agency to January 15 because of the mess COVID created and it has stayed this way. It's less complicated as deals are completed out of season and players can get into action when the season starts. 

Any players who are not draft-eligible (players in the US, Canada or Puerto Rico) are subject to International Free Agency. The signing period will run from January 15 to December 15. If you're 16 and turn 17 before September 1, 2023, you are eligible to sign.

The Twins have had success in International Free Agency. Never more than in 2009 when they landed Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano. If you can sign one 16-year-old in a year and develop him into a big leaguer, that's a win. But when you do it three times, that's unbelievable.

Currently, the Twins group of IFA-acquired prospects is led by Emmanuel Rodriguez, an outfielder who is a Top 100 prospect in baseball.

Jamie Cameron previewed the top names in the next projected Twins crop in October.

While the whole system is relatively complex, what you need to know is simple: The Twins have almost $6.4 million to spend on teenagers in the next eleven months. They're sure to add some talent to the organization.

But what talent are they going to add to the major league roster remains to be seen.

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[chpettit19]

Sounds like Twins have deals in place with Hendry Chivilli (SS, DR) and Ariel Castro (cOF, Cuba).

[DocBauer]

I had forgotten this was a sticking point in the last CBA.

Jeremy, forgive me if I'm being dense here, but instead of signing international FA in July of 2022 we are now signing them by January 15th of 2023? Just want to make sure I'm getting this right.

If true, doesn't that actually help the kids for ML clubs to have more time to evaluate?

And while you are not a scout, you are smart as hell. I know you find guys like Arraez for next to nothing. And then you spend $M on Sano. And you always want to grab and sign the best young talent you can. But it seems the Twins have always looked at position players, with the exception of catcher, and have always ignored young arms. Memory has me going back to Ryan leading the organization. 

I'm not saying my memory is great. And I'm certain I've forgotten a few players and arms here and there. And the last year or so, I've noticed a number of Latin kids at the FCL level. A preponderance even. But the top signings always appear to  be SS and OF. In your opinion, are they ignoring Latin catchers with talent and arms with projectabilty? Because it sure seems there are a ton of catchers and arms from Latin countries who have established themselves at the ML level, or who are top prospects. 

I keep feeling the Twins are missing opportunity here.

[Doctor Gast]

Thanks Jeremy, I look forward to your articles because International signings is where we can find great value for future talent. The name that jumps out to me is Carlos Silva (C), with a name like that with that talent at a much needed position, he needs to be a Twin.

[HrbieFan]

9 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I had forgotten this was a sticking point in the last CBA.

Jeremy, forgive me if I'm being dense here, but instead of signing international FA in July of 2022 we are now signing them by January 15th of 2023? Just want to make sure I'm getting this right.

If true, doesn't that actually help the kids for ML clubs to have more time to evaluate?

And while you are not a scout, you are smart as hell. I know you find guys like Arraez for next to nothing. And then you spend $M on Sano. And you always want to grab and sign the best young talent you can. But it seems the Twins have always looked at position players, with the exception of catcher, and have always ignored young arms. Memory has me going back to Ryan leading the organization. 

I'm not saying my memory is great. And I'm certain I've forgotten a few players and arms here and there. And the last year or so, I've noticed a number of Latin kids at the FCL level. A preponderance even. But the top signings always appear to  be SS and OF. In your opinion, are they ignoring Latin catchers with talent and arms with projectabilty? Because it sure seems there are a ton of catchers and arms from Latin countries who have established themselves at the ML level, or who are top prospects. 

I keep feeling the Twins are missing opportunity here.

Twins were in early on C Carlos Silva, but it appears they are no longer the favorite to sign him, as ge is now projected to land in Cincy. 

[tony&rodney]

The Twins have a larger than normal allotment for bonuses. I know most players are pretty firm with specific teams, but maybe this is a good year to go above slot to "steal" away a top guy; a switch hitting athletic catcher perhaps (Salas).

[Jeremy Nygaard]

12 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I had forgotten this was a sticking point in the last CBA.

Jeremy, forgive me if I'm being dense here, but instead of signing international FA in July of 2022 we are now signing them by January 15th of 2023? Just want to make sure I'm getting this right.

If true, doesn't that actually help the kids for ML clubs to have more time to evaluate?

And while you are not a scout, you are smart as hell. I know you find guys like Arraez for next to nothing. And then you spend $M on Sano. And you always want to grab and sign the best young talent you can. But it seems the Twins have always looked at position players, with the exception of catcher, and have always ignored young arms. Memory has me going back to Ryan leading the organization. 

I'm not saying my memory is great. And I'm certain I've forgotten a few players and arms here and there. And the last year or so, I've noticed a number of Latin kids at the FCL level. A preponderance even. But the top signings always appear to  be SS and OF. In your opinion, are they ignoring Latin catchers with talent and arms with projectabilty? Because it sure seems there are a ton of catchers and arms from Latin countries who have established themselves at the ML level, or who are top prospects. 

I keep feeling the Twins are missing opportunity here.

Yes, the signing period is just delayed. It may help a little bit for some kids, but you're talking a few months.... and many of these kids were likely reaching agreements a few years ago. So good for teams, but also more times for teams to weasel out of verbal deals.

I'm only speculating, but I think it's probably easier to identify traits of hitters at a young age than pitchers. The Twins have *always* spent more on hitters than pitchers and done well, for the most part, with hitters. But Huascar Ynoa was one of their big signings a few years ago and he was a success story... just for another team.

As far as catchers go, they've swung on a number of them... and missed. Again, it might be that it's harder to identify traits of catchers at a young age. Heck, the success rate on 18 year old catchers is low. So it would make sense to not throw a ton of money at a catcher. 

I've always been of the mind that when you're talking about 15, 16, 17 year olds, I'd rather sign 50 at $100,000 than 5 at $1,000,000, but I just don't think that's feasible with roster limits and where to house everyone. So identify a few of the real big names and then take a shot at lower number guys. 

The Twins previously had a lot of success in Australia (less lately). Plucked Kepler from Germany. And signed other Europeans as well. They're always active in the Dominican and Venezuela. And they even signed a kid from Curacao a few years after I had wondered if they ever would. So if they're missing any opportunities, I would guess they're off-setting it with taking other chances elsewhere.

[twinkiesfan11]

3 hours ago, HrbieFan said:

Twins were in early on C Carlos Silva, but it appears they are no longer the favorite to sign him, as ge is now projected to land in Cincy. 

Just out of curiosity, where did you see this? I’ve been following this signing class as closely as someone with no inside knowledge can and hadn’t seen this. His Instagram page still has a photo of him in a Twins jersey and says Future Twin. Would be a bummer if they miss out on him, looks like a major talent. Thanks in advance 

[Jeremy Nygaard]

In regards to Silva, I haven't seen anything linking him to the Reds like HrbieFan mentioned. But in fairness, MLB only mentions that the Twins have shown interest. Which isn't a real strong connection.

And Carlos Silva is a pretty common name, so it's hard to do a whole lot of internet sleuthing.

[twinkiesfan11]

46 minutes ago, Jeremy Nygaard said:

In regards to Silva, I haven't seen anything linking him to the Reds like HrbieFan mentioned. But in fairness, MLB only mentions that the Twins have shown interest. Which isn't a real strong connection.

And Carlos Silva is a pretty common name, so it's hard to do a whole lot of internet sleuthing.

MLB phrases it that way or similar for every player. Probably can’t or at least shouldn’t state that there is an agreement before the signing period begins even though literally everyone knows better. 

[HrbieFan]

20 hours ago, twinkiesfan11 said:

Just out of curiosity, where did you see this? I’ve been following this signing class as closely as someone with no inside knowledge can and hadn’t seen this. His Instagram page still has a photo of him in a Twins jersey and says Future Twin. Would be a bummer if they miss out on him, looks like a major talent. Thanks in advance 

Not sure if it Baseball America or fangraphs. Hope they are wrong