This topic could generate some debate, given the fact that most parents in Latin America prefer their kids to sign with a Major League team instead of getting a scholarship to play College ball in the States. But what’s the driving force behind parents and their decision?

Well, in Latin America, most players come from families with very little income, and when a team approaches them with a $200,000 or $500,000  bonus for their kids, all they want is to get their hands on that check, regardless of the long term problems this could lead to.

We all know that probably around 92% of the draftees in the June Amateur Draft get lost in the Minors and never establish themselves in the Majors. Well, in Latin America that number could be closer to 99%, which means that out of a hundred players signed only one will make it. Tough odds if you ask me.

The problem is when a Latin player gets signed, he immediately quits school and becomes a professional baseball player. If he doesn’t make it, and the statistics are not in their favor, he will probably end up without a career in baseball, which up until this point is all they have known. And to be honest, almost none of them continue their studies once their baseball careers are over. In my experience I’ve met more than one hundred ex-professional baseball players and only two of them went back to school and graduated.

What parents need to know about all this, is that they should insist on their kids getting a scholarship to play College ball in the States. Not only will they get a degree in something, they will also participate in three different June Amateur Drafts and if they get drafted and they decide to sign, their signing bonus will be much, much larger than they one they could have signed out of Latin America. Getting scholarships will also prevent players from lying about their age and identities just to get signed. Like what happened with Leo Nunez last year, Miguel Tejada a couple of years ago and recently formerly Fausto Carmona.

Lately, a rumor about an International draft has been circulating through the media. If that draft reinforces kids quitting school and signing with a Major League organization I would have to say that I don’t support it. Latin American amateur players should first try to get a scholarship to a U.S College and then go for a career in professional baseball if they get drafted. After all, if they’re good enough to get a signing bonus from a Major League organization in Latin America they will be good enough to find a scholarship at a U.S College.

Here is a list of the 2011 June Amateur Draft signing bonus for the top five picks (list provided by mymlbdraft.com):

– Gerrit Cole: $8,000,000 with the Pirates.

– Danny Hultzen: $8,500,000 for a five-year, Major League deal with the Mariners.

– Trevor Bauer: $4,450,000 for a four-year, Major League deal with the Diamondbacks.

– Dylan Bundy: $6,250,000 for a five-year, Major League deal with the Orioles.

– Bubba Starling: $7,500,000 with the Royals.

And here’s a list of the five largest bonuses of all time signed by Latin American players (list provided by Patrick Clark of Beyond the Box Score):

– Michael Ynoa (Dominican Republic): $4,250,000 with the Oakland Athletics.

– Miguel Sano (Dominican Republic): $3,150,000 with the Minnesota Twins.

– Gary Sanchez (Dominican Republic): $3,000,000 with the New York Yankees.A

– Rafael Rodriguez (Dominican Republic): $2,550,000 with the San Francisco Giants.A

– Yorman Rodriguez (Venezuela): $2,500,000 with the Cincinnati Reds.A

Even though Bauer was just drafted this June, he has already played at Double-A for the Diamondbacks, but from the top-five Latin American players only three have cracked Class-A. Sanchez (signed in 2009), Rafael Rodriguez(signed in 2008) and Yorman Rodriguez (signed in 2008). The rest of them have only played in the rookie league.

If Latin American players pushed to receive a guaranteed college education, it would not only help them receive more attention from scouts in the States, but would also help them take back a solid college education to their respective Countries in hopes of being able to make a difference in their communities.

Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times adds that Kershaw will receive a $500,000 signing bonus with salaries of $7.5 million 2012 and $11 million in 2013. $2mm of his 2012 salary will be deferred to January 2013.

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They have an outstanding offense, now even more improved with the addition of Prince Fielder, and the most dominant starting pitcher in the Majors in 2011, Justin Verlander.

In 2011, the Tigers won 96 games during the regular season. This means that they won 47 games above the 49 games won line. Their payroll for 2011 was $105,700,231 (ranked tenth in the Majors), breaking down their expenses to $2,006,451.72 for every win they got above 49.

Their top five paid players were:

– Miguel Cabrera ($20,000,000): A worthy MVP candidate in 2011, Cabrera hit .344/.448/.586 with 30 HR’s, 105 RBI’s, 111 runs and a 1.0333 OPS in a career high 161 games. The slugger earned $666,666.67 for every home run he hit, $190,476.19 for every run he batted in, $180,180.18 for every run he scored or $61,162.08 for every time he got on base.

– Carlos Guillen ($12,922,232): Guillen hit .232/.265/.368 with 3 HR’s, 13 RBI’s, 8 runs and a .633 OPS in only 28 games. He earned $4,307,410.67 for every home run hit, $994,017.85 for every run batted in, $1,615,279 for every run scored or $478,601.19 for every time he got on base.

– Justin Verlander ($12,850,000): The most dominant pitcher in the Majors in 2011 went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts in 251 innings pitched. Verlander earned $535,416.67 for every game he won, $51,400 for every hitter he struck out or $176,027.40 for every run the opposition scored against him.

– Victor Martinez ($12,000,000): The switch hitting catcher hit .330/.380/.470 with 12 HR’s, 103 RBI’s, 76 runs and a .850 OPS. Martinez earned $1,000,000 for every home run he hit, $116,504.85 for every run he batted in, $157,894.74 for every run he scored or $52,173.91 for every time he got on base.

– Magglio Ordonez ($10,000,000): Ordonez hit .255/.303/.331 with 5 HR’s, 32 RBI’s, 33 runs and a .634 OPS. He earned $2,000,000 for every home run he hit, $312,500 for every run he batted in, $303,030.30 for every run he scored or $97,457.94 for every time he got on base.

Out of their top five paid players, only three lived up their expectations, actually two of them were outstanding, and probably among the best three players in the league, in my opinion (Cabrera and Verlander). Guillen was limited by injuries to only 28 games, making him incredibly pricey for the productivity they got from him.

Ordonez saw his playing time limited with injuries too, although he end up playing in 92 games. His power seemed to have vanished, slugging only .331 for the season, basically he slugged like a short stop while playing as a right fielder or a designated hitter.

Martinez proved to be valuable as a hitter for the Tigers, who saw time behind the plate with Alex Avila and but majority of his time was as the designated hitter. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they won’t have Martinez in 2012 because he suffered a torn ACL and a knee micro-fracture, but they are hoping that Fielder fills the void left for him next season.

The Tigers were a competitive team, with bright stars such as Cabrera, Verlander and Martinez, combining them with young talent such as Austin Jackson, Rick Porcello, Avila, Max Scherzer and Doug Fister. Their collective OBP was .344 (third in the AL), their SLG was .434 (fourth in the AL) and their OPS was .773 (also fourth in the AL). They also scored a total of 787 runs, fourth in the AL. Breaking down their expenses, each run they scored cost them $134,307.79.

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Heyman addsthat Jackson’s deal with the Nationals is believed to be in the $8-$12 million range. The 28-year old went 12-9 with a 3.79 ERA and 148 strikeouts in 199.2 innings with the White Sox and Cardinals in 2011. He has a career 1.0 HR/9, 6.7 SO/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 203 games, 173 starts.

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Cashman believes Hendry will be an “invaluabe resource” (via Levine). “He can scout amateur players; he scouts pro players for us,” he said. “He’s as connected in the game as you can possibly be. Everybody loves this man.”

According to a source close to Levine, the 56 year old Hendry agreed to a multiyear deal with the Yankees. And another source close to Levine said Hendry’s duties will include “looking at minor league players, major league players and spending time with the major league team.”

The Cubs fired Hendry in August 2011. During Hendry’s tenure as a General Manager, the Cubs were 749-748, one game above .500 and won three division titles(2003, ‘07, ‘08).

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The 29 year old last pitched in the Majors in 2010 with the Rockies and Red Sox. That year he went 3-4 with a 4.99 ERA in 52.1 innings. He also posted a 1.4 HR/9, 5.5 BB/9 and 6.5 SO/9 that season.

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Curt Flood was a successful MLB player who earned seven Gold Glove Awards, played in three All-Star Games, and won two World Series.  In 1970, after being traded to the Phillies against his wishes, Flood challenged baseball’s reserve clause, fighting it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Although Flood lost the court case, his step of suing MLB ultimately paved the way for reforms like the 1975 Seitz Decision, which granted baseball with free agency, a great benefit to everyone affiliated with the game.

Flood is considered by many to be the pioneer of free agency, but he paid a significant price for his contributions by sacrificing a flourishing MLB career for what he believed was right not only for him, but for all who played.

One of our readers, Blayke Tatman, a 7^th grader from Orange County, California, conducted a research project on Curt Flood for his National History Day Project.  To learn more about Flood and the history of free agency in baseball, stop by his website. You can also stop by his website and see what current players such as Gerald Laird and past players think about Flood, and what his decision to stand up against Baseball did for the game.

Arizona overcame a horrible 2010 season where they went 65-97, good enough for last place.The Diamondbacks’ payroll was the sixth lowest in baseball at $53,639,833 million. With that payroll, they won 94 games, or 45 games above the 49 game line. That means they spent $1,191,996.29 for every win over 49.

Their top five paid players were:

– Kelly Johnson ($5,850,000): Johnson hit .209/.287/.412 with 18 HR’s, 49 RBI’s, 59 runs scored and a .699 OPS in 114 games with the Diamondbacks in 2011. He was traded to the Blue Jays late in August. If we presume that the D’backs paid Johnson for the entire season, it means that he earned $65,000 for every hit he got (90) with them, $325,000 for every home run he hit and $99,152.54 for every run he scored. He also earned $119,387.76 for every run he batted in and $42,700.73 for every time he got on base.

– Joe Saunders ($5,500,000): Saunders went 12-13 with a 3.69 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 212.0 innings throughout 33 starts in 2011. He earned $458,333.33 for every won game, $50,925.93 for every batter he struck out, $25,943.40 for every inning pitched and $166,666.66 for every game he started.

– Chris Young ($5,200,000): Young hit .236/.331/.420 with 20 HR’s, 71 RBI’s, 89 runs and a .751 OPS. Young earned $260,000 for every home run he hit, $38,805.97 for every hit, $73,239.44 for every run he batted in, $58,426.97 for every run scored and $23,853.21 for every time he got on base.

– Stephen Drew ($4,650,000): Drew hit .252/.317/.369 with 5 HR’s, 45 RBI’s, 44 runs and a .713 OPS in only 321 AB’s. Drew earned $930,000 for every home run he hit, $57,407.41 for every hit, $103,333.33 for every run batted in, $105,681.82 for every run scored or $41,517.86 for every time he got on base.

– Justin Upton ($4,458,333): Upton hit .289/.369/.529 with 31 HR’s, 88 RBI’s, 105 runs and a .898 OPS in 592 AB’s. Upton earned $143,817.19 for every home run he hit. $26,072.12 for every hit he got, $50,662.86 for every run batted in, $42,460.31 for every run scored or $17,904.95 for every time he got on base.

The Diamondbacks had a collective OBP of .322, a collective SLG of.413 and an OPS of .736. Throughout the season they scored 731 runs, or about $73,378.70 for every run they scored as a team. They ranked third in slugging, fourth in OPS and seventh in on-base percentage as an overall team in the National League.

I believe this team had a pretty solid season taking into account their payroll. Even with a limited Drew, they still managed to outperform the rest of the NL West. They even outperformed their Pythagorean record, 88-74 against 94-68. The Pythagorean record is calculated with the runs scored and runs allowed and gives you an estimate of wins a team’s is slated to get.

Their three best offensive players (OBP-wise) were Upton, Gerardo Parra and Miguel Montero, in that exact same order. The last two are not among the top-five players, Montero made $3,200,000 and Parra only $426,000, and Parra will now be the team’s fourth outfielder. On the 25-man roster only 15 players earned more than $1 million, and their two aces Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson weren’t among them.

If this group of young players can stay healthy and perform the way they did in 2011 this team is going to be tough to beat for years to come. The Diamondbacks will have to evaluate which players to lock-up to long-term deals, which of them will get traded for good young prospects and which of them will become free agents and sign with another team as many of them will hit free agency around the same time.

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Lidge who suffered from a rotator cuff injury was limited to only 25 games last season and posted a 1.41 era for the Phillies.

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Last season with the Reds, Cordero saved 37 games and posted a 2.45 era while earning $12mm. He became a free agent when the Reds turned down his $12mm option.

In 13 career seasons, Cordero owns a 3.17 era and averages 8.8 strikeouts per 9 innings.

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After confirming the contract, Morrow has also agreed to make a yearly donation to the Jays Care Foundation.

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Both sides had been talking about the deal for the last few days with one of the issues being how much of Scutaro’s $6mm salary Colorado would take on which now appears to be all of it.

The deal may pave the way for Boston to sign Roy Oswalt as they were looking to shed payroll to sign him.

Scutaro posted a career high .299 avg in 445 plate appearances last season.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe notes that Nick Punto and Mike Aviles will likely platoon at shortstop instead of bringing up defensive wiz Jose Iglesias from the minors initially at the start of the season.

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The Rangers will now have five days to pay the entire $51mm posting fee. In total, the Rangers paid $111mm (possibly $121mm with bonuses) for the right hander.

Darvish is a 4-time All star, 2- time MVP, 2-time Gold Glove, all while going 93-38 with an ERA of 1.99 over a 7 year span.

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Kuroda who has only pitched for the Dodgers besides in Japan, has a career era of 3.45 (4 seasons) and posted a 3.07 era in 2011 enroute to a 13-16 record.

The Yankees who decided to wait until Friday the 13th to make any big moves, earlier traded for Michael Pineda.

On January 10th, Mike Petriello of  Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness, noted that Kenji Nimura, who joined the Dodgers in 2008 to translate for Kuroda, had signed with the Yankees.The deal that brought Nimura may have helped sway Kuroda to the east coast.

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Pineda who in his rookie season went 9-10 with a 3.74 era and averaging just over a strikeout per inning. He will now slot in behind CC Sabathia and in front of Ivan Nova in the Bronx Bombers rotation.

Campos, 21, posted a 2.32 era at single-A this year and possess an “electric” fastball.

Montero, saw limited action after being called up in September, but didn’t waste the opportunity to display his talent and power. In 61 at-bats, he hit .328 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI’s. He will most likely take over the full time DH role.

Noesi, who only has 56 big-league innings under his belt, was considered by many at one time as one of the Yankees top prospects (#7 in 2011 per BA). Last year at Triple-A, he posted a 3.28 era while averaging just over 7 strikeouts a game.

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In 2011 the Brewers won 96 regular season games, or 47 above the 49 games won line. They paid $85,497,333 in total salary breaking down their expenses to $1,819,092.19 per win.

Their top five paid players were:

– Prince Fielder ($15,500,000): Fielder hit .299/.415/.566 with 38 HR’s, 120 RBI’s, 95 runs and a .981 OPS. Fielder earned $407,894.74 for every home run he hit or $129,166.67 for every RBI he earned, or $163,157.89 for every run he scored, or $54,006.97 for every time he got on base.

– Zack Greinke ($13,500,000): Greinke went 16-6 with a 3.83 ERA with 201 SO in 171.2 innings. He made $843,750 for every game he won or $67,164.18 for every batter he struck out, or $482,142.86 for every game he started (28).

– Randy Wolf ($9,500,00): Wolf went 13-10 with a 3.69 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 212.1 innings. He earned $730,769.23 for every win, or $70,895.52 for every strikeout, or $278,878.79 for every game started (33).

– Corey Hart ($6,833,333): Hart hit .285/.356/.510 with 26 HR’s, 63 RBI’s, 80 runs and a .866 OPS. Hart made $262,820.5 for every home run he hit, or $108,465.60 for every RBI he earned, or $85,416.66 for every run he scored, or $35,042.73 for every time he got on base.

– Rickie Weeks ($4,500,000): Weeks hit .269/.350/.468 with 20 HR’s, 49 RBI’s, 77 runs and a .818 OPS. He earned $225,000 for every home run, $91,836.73 for every run batted in, or $58,441.56 for every run he scored, or $25,000 for every time he got on base.

The Brewers had a .325 OBP as a team and a .425 of SLG percentage. They scored a total runs of 721 which breaks down their expenses to $118,581.60 per run.

The Brewers began 2011 by trading for Greinke and Shaun Marcum thus bolstering the top of their starting rotation and getting a chance to compete in the NL Central. Their top paid player, Fielder, had an OBP over .400 for the third consecutive season, and walked over 100 times for a third consecutive season as well. The other two position players in the top five paid players were Weeks and Hart. Both of them had an OBP above .350 and an OPS over .800.

As the team with the 17th highest payroll we can say that they have been the most effective team thus far out of the first five teams evaluated even though they are the ones that scored the fewer runs. Unfortunately for them, it appears that their offense relies a lot on Fielder. With Fielder probably moving on, you start to wonder if they will have the same shot at competing this season.

In my opinion, the Brewers’ offense relies more on Fielder more than the Cardinals’ offense does in Albert Pujols. For 2012, the Brewers also have another payroll problem. They will have to pay Francisco Rodriguez about $14 million for being the team’s setup man, thus putting him in the team’s top five players for 2012.

The Brewers probably offered Rodriguez arbitration to get a compensation pick if he signed elsewhere, but with the closer market shrinking he decided to accept the arbitration offer and come back with the team for 2012. Although last week, we learned that there are teams interested in trading for Rodriguez.

For 2012, the team also picked up Aramis Ramirez and Alex Gonzalez in free agency. The first one will try to fill some of the void left by Fielder’s imminent departure, and the latter will be a defensive, and probably offensive improvement over Yunieski Betancourt.

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Had the Angels not sealed the deal, Kendrick would be eligible for free agency for the first time in his career after the 2012 season.  The 28-year-old hit 2.85 with 18 home runs and 63 RBIs in 140 games in 2011 while earning a roster spot for the American League All Stars.

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We are proud to announce that our PRO Rumors Android app version 1.0 is available on the Android Market.  We spent a lot of time on the app’s design and functionality, and we are sure that you’ll love it.  To download the app for an introductory price of $2.99 you can click here.

Here are a few features:

– Push Notifications to get the latest news and rumors for your favorite MLB team

– Pulse-like view of articles – it’s beautiful

– Real-time scoreboard

– Real-time box scores of in-game action

We’re working hard to add more features, so if you have any questions or feature requests, please send an email to support@prorumors.com.  We promise to write you back.

Allan

Larkin enters the Hall on his third year of eligibility with 495 of 573 possible votes – giving hm 86.4%.   Players must be named on 75% of the ballots submitted to be elected into the Hall of Fame.

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Rizzo who appeared to be blocked now by the recent acquisition of Yonder Alonso will be reunited with his old bosses, Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein who drafted him in the sixth round of the 2007 draft while in Boston. Rizzo was traded to the Padres last offseason as a piece of the Adrian Gonzalez trade.

Rizzo hit only .141 in 151 at-bats but posted better numbers at Triple-A hitting .331.

Cashner posted a 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings as he was dealt with rotator cuff issues this past season.

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The Rockies have also agreed to a one-year contract with third baseman Casey Blake.

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Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel adds that the deal is not finalized, but the Marlins have agreed to pick up $2.5 million of Zambrano’s $18 million salary for 2012.

Zambrano went 9-7 with a 4.82 ERA last season with the Cubs. Zambrano appeared on his way out of Chicago as he was suspended twice by the team for his actions and comments.

Back in October, Zambrano first made it known that he wanted to join Ozzie Guillen down in Miami during a radio interview.

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