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Indians unveil training camp in Dominican Republic


SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP)—The Cleveland Indians unveiled a new training academy in the Dominican Republic on Monday in an effort to develop more young baseball prospects from the talent-rich country and other Latin American nations.

Team official Ramon Pena says the new $2.6 million facility in San Antonio de Guerra can house 72 players and includes two full-sized baseball fields, bullpen training mounds, a gymnasium and classrooms.

Dominican President Leonel Fernandez joined the team’s executives at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the academy, which will serve as the hub for the Indians’ Latin American operations.

DOMINICAN PROSPECT LEAGUE NEWS

The Tribe sign RHP Luis Daniel Marte of the Dominican Prospect League. Marte is 6'3 180lb with a wiry body, his FB velocity 88-92 (93) and shows flashes of 2 quality breaking pitches. Marte pitched in the All-Star game last January and recently agreed to a $200,000.00 contract with the Indians. Congrats to all.

Any relation to Andy Marte?

The July 2 Draft of Latin players coming up soon, I understand. BA lists the Indians as interested in this guy:

• Multiple sources have said the Indians have shown interest in Dominican shortstop Dorssys Paulino. Though he will likely move off the position, Paulino is one of the better hitters among infielders for this year's July 2 class with quick hands, consistent contact and average power potential.

Let's hope that they researched Dorssys and found he's not Walli Bryan's younger brother Beaver.

Here;s a BA scouting report on Dorssys Paulino

14. DORSSYS PAULINO, SS
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

B-T: R-R Ht.: 5-11 Wt.: 175

Paulino is the son of Jesus Sanchez, a lefthander who pitched for the Marlins, Cubs, Rockies and Reds from 1998-2004. A 16-year-old from Bani who trains at La Academia and plays in the Dominican International League, Paulino will likely move off shortstop but has one of the better bats among Dominican infielders. He has good bat speed, his hands work well at the plate and he's a quality game hitter who can use the whole field. He's strong and projects to have average power, becoming more of a doubles hitter than a consistent home run threat. He runs well and has a good arm, but his range and body type will likely make him a better fit at second or third base. The Indians have been mentioned in connection to more high-profile Latin American players than usual this summer, with Paulino one of the players they may go after.

Some more Indians mentions:


29. ANTHONY SANTANDER, OF VENEZUELA
B-T: B-R Ht.: 6-2 Wt.: 185
Santander has a projectable body with wide shoulders, strong legs, good athleticism and improving physical tools. A 16-year-old from Agua Blanca represented by Felix Olivo, Santander significantly improved his speed this year as he got into better shape. He went from running the 60-yard dash in 7.4 seconds coming into the year to 6.9-7.0 seconds this spring. As July 2 approached, one scout had clocked him as fast as 6.65 seconds, which would make him a plus runner. Santander's bat has been inconsistent, and he didn't have his best showing at a showcase run by Major League Baseball in April. At his best he makes good contact and shows average power. He started switch-hitting within the last year and his swing is better from the right side, though scouts have said it's funky either way. He has a below-average arm, which may limit him to left field. The Giants, Astros and Indians are among the teams that have shown interest in Santander

Another lefthander in Venezuela is Edgar Pineda, who has been linked to the Indians. Pineda gets the occasional Tim Collins comparison because he's a small lefty who throws hard and has feel for a curveball. He's 5-foot-7 or so and pitches anywhere from 87-92 mph, though he's still learning to harness his control. His arm gets away from his body, which causes some inconsistency with his curveball, but it's one of the better breaking balls in Venezuela


And here's the whole story on all the players likely to do in the July 2 Draft:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/p ... 12022.html

Another lefthander in Venezuela is Edgar Pineda, who has been linked to the Indians. Pineda gets the occasional Tim Collins comparison because he's a small lefty who throws hard and has feel for a curveball. He's 5-foot-7 or so and pitches anywhere from 87-92 mph, though he's still learning to harness his control. His arm gets away from his body, which causes some inconsistency with his curveball, but it's one of the better breaking balls in Venezuela

No wonder these guys can't draft or develop players when you are looking at a 5'7" pitcher whose fastball tops out at 92.

You've got to be kidding.

Guess you would not have picked up Tomlin either.

Indians Sign Venezuelan Outfielder Anthony Santander

Posted Jul. 3, 2011 4:31 pm by Ben Badler
Filed under: International, News
The Indians have made another international signing, agreeing to terms with Venezuelan outfielder Anthony Santander for $385,000.

Santander, a 16-year-old switch-hitter from Agua Blanca, has an athletic 6-foot-2, 185-pound frame and showed improving overall tools as July 2 approached. BA subscribers are able to read Santander's complete scouting report, as well as reports on other top Latin American players.

Santander is the third confirmed international signing for the Indians since the international signing period opened yesterday. The Indians also signed Domincian shortstop Dorssys Paulino for $1.1 million and Dominican outfielder Francisco Miguel for $200,000.

Long story from Lastoria confirming 5 overseas prospects have been signed.

Indians make International splash
Written by: Tony Lastoria
7/5/2011 12:10 PM

The Indians were surprisingly busy over the July 4th holiday weekend as they signed five players during the International Signing Period which kicked off on July 2nd.

All told the Indians signed five 16-year old Latin American free agents by inking Dominican Republic shortstop Dorssys Paulino and outfielder Francisco Miguel and Venezuelan left-handed pitcher Edgar Pineda, outfielder Omar Sanchez, and outfielder Anthony Santander.

Indians Director of Scouting John Mirabelli just returned to the states after spending over a week out in Latin America looking at players and helping get the deals completed.

“We actually did a little more on July 2nd than we have done in the past as we signed five 16-year olds,” Mirabelli said in a phone interview on Monday night. “With the way the market has shifted, the player values just happened to be guys we liked that were 16 years old and on July 2nd.”

With the signing of four position players and one pitcher, the Indians achieved their goal of picking up some upside bats.

“It was a combination of looking for some bats this year and in fact offense is what the strength of the Latin American market was this year so it kind of played into what we were looking for,” Mirabelli said. “Obviously the draft was very pitching heavy, so it was just a combination of things that broke with how we have gone more with the offensive side than the pitching so far.”

The Indians inked Paulino and Miguel on Saturday night at their new state-of-the-art facility in San Antonio de Guerra, Dominican Republic, which is 18 miles east of the capital city of Santo Domingo. The other players were all signed on Monday morning.

Paulino is considered the best talent the Indians landed as he was ranked by Baseball America as the 14th best prospect going into the signing period and ended up signing for a reported $1.1 million, which may be a record for the Indians in Latin America.

“What attracted us to him was the offensive upside with the bat,” Mirabelli said about Paulino. “For a 16-year old kid and in this market we felt he has some polish. He has some instincts with the bat, but he is also a pretty good athlete as he is a 6-7 runner for us and has a plus arm and plus athleticism. But the bat is probably the featured tool as he has some instincts to hit. He’s young and as with all of these guys it is about developmental time as they gain experience, games and instruction.”

Miguel is another interesting player that Mirabelli was happy to bring into the fold.

“He’s 6’4” and 190 pounds, which is a big kid for 16 years old,” Mirabelli said. “It is more power than it is hitting right now for him. He is a corner guy who can throw, and is a pretty good runner for his size as well. We are actually going to give him some time in center field but I think in the end he ends up in right field.”

The other three players Santander, Pineda and Sanchez are all interesting upside players from Venezuela. Santander is a switch-hitter with a nice combination of size, strength, and speed and has the most upside of the three. Sanchez is a switch-hitting outfielder who is a very good athlete with plus instincts and is a 6.6 runner. Pineda is lefty who has a fastball that sits 88-92 MPH with a power curveball and a good feel for pitching.

When it comes to scouting such raw talent in Latin America, it all comes down to the projection of tools. Speed, arm strength, and defensive tools are easier to project, but the bat is always the longest projection when evaluating these players. Contrary to what they have done in recent years they will probably not rush any of these players through the system and will instead let them play a significant amount of ball in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) to gain game experience before coming stateside.

“I think we are better off because they are so young to just let the natural development progress take place,” Mirabelli said. “We would like to get them over for Instructional League or extended spring training to get their feet wet, but I don’t think they will be rushed. The last couple of years we moved some guys quicker because of opportunities and where our system was and some of those guys were 17-18 years old. I think with these kids the process is important and they have not played a lot of games, if any.”

Due to the involved nature of the approval process and completing investigations and such, none of the signings will play in the DSL this year.

“None of those guys will play,” Mirabelli said. “There is no way they will get approved before the season is complete here in the next six weeks.”

It is no secret that in recent years the Indians have opted to stay out of the circus show that is the International Signing Period, especially at the start of it where the market has gone crazy and contract demands are ridiculously inflated. Recently they have chosen to spread their money around more on some of the guys they feel were undervalued by the market, such as players like right-handed pitcher Felix Sterling and outfielder Juan Romero who they signed in the spring of 2010.

Mirabelli claims that the Indians increased activity in the early stages of the International Signing Period is not a change in philosophy, but just that the value that they determined for these players happened to matchup with what those players were looking for.

“The philosophy with our organization is we determine the value of the player, whatever that is be it the draft or major league free agency,” Mirabelli said. “We kind of gauge the long term value of what the player is worth, and sometimes that lines up with their expectations and sometimes it doesn’t. In Latin America there are market factors that influence the value the player can have and what you need to sign them. We stuck to our value and we liked these players for what their ability and talent was.”

The cost of doing business on the Latin American front has escalated dramatically in recent years, so it also helped that ownership increased the budget that Mirabelli and his scouts have to work with on the International front.

“We didn’t change and decide to go out and spend a lot of money, the value has to be what our scouts see in terms with the ability and the talent,” Mirabelli said. “That stayed the same. One thing that did allow us [to make these signings] is we are fortunate that ownership made increases to our International signing budget, so we did have a little more resources to compete this year.”

Even with the higher profile International signings, it should not be viewed as a change in the way the Indians will operate going forward outside of the United States. They still plan to be efficient with their money and stick to their process.

“I don’t want you to think that we are all of a sudden going after high dollar guys,” Mirabelli said. ”That’s just kind of how the market is. You can’t give a huge percentage of your budget to one guy, but if there is common ground where we can get the player for what we think is good value within our finite budget we will. Even if I had $10 million, I still wouldn’t give guys $5 million.”

Now the attention on the scouting front starts to get back more to looking at players for potential trades to help the big league team. Also, scouts will continue to get a look at some players from the draft that are playing summer ball to see who the Indians should take the next step in negotiations with before the August 15th signing deadline.

In the meantime, out in Latin America the Indians will continue to sign some more players throughout the signing period and into the offseason. But it looks like their “spending spree” of sorts is over for this year.

More willingness to spend plenty of money on young, in this case VERY young talent. Does this suggest perhaps they'll be willing to spend by picking up a big contract for the end of the season stretch run? Or even sign a FA in the winter?