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June 8, 2009

The Latin Talent Market

A Scouting Report Bonanza

by Kiley McDaniel

I've got a lot of ground to cover today, so we'll skip any long-winded introductions and just get right into the good stuff. As with last week's piece, non-subscribers who would like to take a look at the videos embedded below can check out my Vimeo page.

While I was in the Dominican last month, the biggest showcase of the year featured various top July 2^nd prospects facing off against the Canadian junior national team. Left-hander Jake Eliopoulos, the top Canadian prospect in tomorrow's draft, toed the rubber for three innings. Here's a bonus video and scouting report on him, as you'll want to know something about him, as he should be drafted tomorrow:

As a projectable 6-foor-4 high school lefty, Eliopoulos has been talked about as a second- or third-round pick, and he looked the part in this outing. Pitching with a fastball clocked at 90-92 with heavy movement, he also flashed two average off-speed pitches (his slider and changeup). Shown in the at-bats on the video is outfielder Wagner Mateo (you can review his scouting report) and shortstop Rossel Herrera (whose report is below, in this article). Eliopoulos showed consistent stuff and command, impressing the sixty or more scouts on hand. Of course, during the most notable at-bat, I managed to not have the camera on, so you'll just have to use your imagination about what it looked like when 16-year-old Dominican right fielder Jose Pena (whose report is also below) took Eliopoulos deep with a frozen rope over the wall in left-center field, eliciting oohs and aahs from the scouting section.

As first reported by Ken Rostenthal and then later by Melissa Segura, the Angels' international scouting supervisor, Clay Daniel, was fired last week. Sources indicate that the Angels were the only other team bidding against the Yankees for top July 2^nd catching prospect Gary Sanchez (and here's his scouting report) and it's assumed this development only increases the odds that Sanchez will sign with the Bombers. The Yankees feel Sanchez is the top July 2^nd prospect this year, and multiple sources indicate that the Yankees are expected to eventually agree to terms with Sanchez on a bonus somewhere in the $3.1-3.4 million range. (For updates on the negotiations of Miguel Sano and Wagner Mateo, check my Unfiltered post from last week).