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.

When healthy, Kuo was one of the most dominant left handed relievers in the game which is evident by him making the All-Star team in 2010, when he led all big league relievers with a 1.20 ERA.

2011 was a different story for Kuo who posted a 9.00 ERA in 40 appearances while dealing with anxiety issues.

In seven major league seasons, all with the Dodgers, Kuo went 13-7 with 13 saves and a 3.73 career ERA in 292 1/3 innings pitched and one memorable bat flip/ home run in 2007.

Image taken by SD Dirk and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.

Guillen will earn a base salary of $1mm and has incentives tied to plate appearances included in the deal.

Last season with the Tigers, Guillen was limited to only 95 at-bats and hit .232.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.

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Cust who was released by the Mariners in August last season, hit .213 with only 3 home runs while making $2.5mm.

Cust made a quick stop in Philadelphia at the end last season as he provided Phillies organizational depth and was a possible September call up but was eventually released. Cust lasted only eight days while hitting .250 at Triple-A in 23 plate appearances.

Cust who averaged 28 home runs from 2007-09 will look to re-establish his offense prior to the Astros moving to the AL in 2013 where he could then take over the full-time DH duties.

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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.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.

Wilson will be the primary backup middle infielder for the Braves.

In 2011, Wilson hit .243 for while splitting time with the Mariners and Braves.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.

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

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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

The Nationals though may be falling into money Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports reports. He notes that the Nationals current TV nets them about $29mm a season which soon will “double, triple or more” thus creating significant money for Fielder.

Fielder hit .299/.415/.566 with 38 HR’s and 120 RBI’s in 569 AB’s for the Brewers in 2011.

Image taken by Steve Paluch and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.

– The Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets are looking at Ryan Theriot. (Twitter)

– The Seattle Mariners have interest in Kevin Millwood. (Twitter)

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Sherrill started his career in Seattle where he spent four seasons, 2004-2007 with them. He posted his best season in Seattle in ‘07 when he went 2-0 with a 2.36 era in 45 2/3 innings.

He was later traded to the Orioles for Erik Bedard and then flipped again to the Dodgers in 2009.

Last season with Atlanta, he posted a 3.00 era in 36 innings.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Commons License Agreement.

The A’s are “very willing” to trade him this winter. Yesterday, we learned that the Angels were inquiring about him, and last week, we learned that the Reds, Blue Jays, Mariners, Rangers and Red Sox were among the teams interested in him.

Bailey was 0-4 with a 3.24 ERA and 24 saves in 41.2 innings for the A’s in 2011.

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– Five teams (including the Texas Rangers) are in the hunt for C.J. Wilson and one of them has made a six-year offer.  (Jeff Wilson, Star-Telegram)

– The Twins, Nationals, Marlins and Rangers are in on Mark Buehrle. (Ken Rosenthal, FOX Sports)

– The Royals, Marlins, Twins, Athletics and Mariners are interested in Carlos Guillen. (Enrique Rojas, ESPNDeportesLosAngeles)

– According to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post, the Miami Marlins (formerly Florida Marlins), plan to tender Juan Carlos Oviedo (formerly Leo Nunez).

– The Tigers, Blue Jays and Padres have inquired about Daniel Murphy from the Mets. (Joel Sherman, The New York Post)

– The Arizona Diamondbacks are looking for a starter, and according to Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports, they’re targeting right handed pitcher Hiroki Kuroda.

– Josh Willingham have been contacted by nine teams according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN. That list includes the Twins, Red Sox, Indians and Reds adds Crasnick.

– Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post says that the Philadelphia Phillies are “strong players”for third baseman Aramis Ramirez.

– The Los Angeles Angels have been inquiring about Andrew Bailey according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.

– The St. Louis Cardinals have been talking to Octavio Dotel according to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.

– The Pittsburgh Pirates “may add another outfielder” according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports. And according to sources close to him, they are interested in former Pirate Nate McLouth.

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Yesterday, we learned that Kennedy and the Dodgers were close to an agreement. Kennedy hit .234/.277/.355 with 7 HR’s and 38 RBI’s in 380 AB’s for the Seattle Mariners in 2011.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

In the book’s preface, the author quotes work done by a Manhattan lawyer named Doug Pappas. Pappas, says that a team with only minimum wage players, both on the Major League roster and the rest of the 40-man, would still probably win 49 out of the 162 games played.

In 2011, the minimum wage for a player on the 25-man roster was $414,500. The minimum wage for a player on the 40-man roster, with at least one day of MLB service time or had been on the 40-man roster for a year was $67,300.

The minimum that a team could spend on their 40-man roster in 2011 was: $11,397,000. That’s $10,387,500 for their 25-man roster and $1,009,500 for the rest of their 40-man roster. If a team could get approximately 49 wins with a $11,397,000 payroll, that means that if you divide the total wins a team got above their 49th win by the total dollars they paid over the minimum, you get the “price” each team paid for each win they got.

After this brief introduction of the “marginal win” formula, I’m going to say what this report is all about. I’m going to analyze the “price” for each win a team got in 2011 so we can determine which teams were the most cost effective. Besides that, I’m going to list the top 5 paid players on each team and give you their performance line, to see how much they actually contributed to their team.

I’ll also list each team’s OBP, runs and SLG totals so we can see for ourselves how related these stats are at the moment of scoring runs and winning games. So get ready to experience a thoughtful analysis of every 2011 Major league team.

The team’s payroll was taken from USA Today and the individuals salaries from About.com.

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“There’s no question we could use a big bat in the middle of our lineup,” said Zduriencik. “But where is your limitation and threshold? We’ll go down that road and experiment and see where it ends up, but until things get more definitive, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Besides a power hitter, the Mariners are also looking for a backup shortstop, a veteran reliever and probably another starter. “Every club in baseball looks for pitching,” Zduriencik said. “We’re relatively young in the ‘pen, so a veteran guy there would be interesting in the right situation. And you’re always looking for starting pitching.”

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“John gives us a left-handed-hitting catcher with some big league time who is still young,” Mariners’ GM Jack Zduriencik said. “His left-handed bat will be a nice compliment to our right-handed hitting group. He’s a tough kid with post-season experience and should be a nice fit with us.”

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

The 25-year old debuted in the Majors in 2011 with the Yankees. He pitched 0.2 innings in one relieving appearance for them.

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Wilson began the 2011 season with the Seattle Mariners, but was then traded to the Braves on August 31. In 214 AB’s with the Mariners and Braves in 2011 Wilson hit .243/.274/.285 with 11 RBI’s.

Image by dherrera_96 Under the Creative Commons License

“If this were the middle of July, I’d be at the stage where one more good bullpen session and I’d be ready to go out on a [minor-league] rehab assignment,” said Moyer in October. “I’ve gone through this rehab knowing that my arm and body will stop me if they have to. So far they haven’t.”

According to sources close to Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports, the Mariners, Rangers, Royals, Rockies, Orioles, and Pirates are among the teams that have sent scouts to see the left hander.

The reviews that Rosenthal and Morosi are getting are pretty good so far. “Same as he’s been for the past 15 years, as incredible as that may sound,” a scout said. “He has a chance to pitch in the big leagues as a fifth starter and win 10 or 12 games. He’s throwing 81 to 83 miles an hour, but he still knows how to make you look like an idiot. He doesn’t need the money. But I think he has that fire burning in his belly.”

Another scout said that “It was amazing. He looked as loose, limber and free as he ever has.”

The guy that has been pitching since I was three years old, A.K.A. “Jamie Moyer,” went 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA in 111.2 innings with the Phillies in 2010.

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One of the new features we are proud to debut is our “Mail Time with PRO Rumors.” Twice a month (or maybe more), we will answer emails from our readers about any baseball related topic. We will also take questions in both English and Spanish. If you have a question about Winter Ball in Venezuela make sure you drop us a line, as PRO Rumors’ writer Juan has been scouting most of the games.

Send us your questions to Mailbag@prorumors.com

I decided to talk about this specific tournament, well because I played in it last year and I’m 22 days away from going to Florida to play in it again.

Now, this specific tournament is played only once a year in Florida. Last year the tournament was held in the Cardinals’ Spring Training Complex, the Mets’ Spring Training Complex, the Marlins’ Spring Training Complex and the old DODGERTOWN.

The tournament is organized in age groups. +18, +25, +35, +45, +52 and some groups have the option to play with wood or aluminum bats. Besides that, the +25 group age has two divisions, one accepts ex-pros and the other one doesn’t.

The fun part of this tournament, besides the obvious part of playing baseball, is the fact that you get to play against teams from different countries. In 2010 we played against our arch-rivals in Venezuela, three teams from the U.S.A and one from the Dominican Republic.

Last year, was not only my first time there, but the first time my team, as a team, played in the tournament. Some of our players played before with other teams. Unfortunately we didn’t do as we expected. We won the first game against our arch-rivals, but the next day we took two huge blows.

First we lost in 12 innings against the Dominican Republic team 3-2, one of the greatest games I’ve had the pleasure of playing in. Then we suffered an 8-5 defeat against a team from Cleveland (I lost that one pitching 5 innings and allowing 4 runs, 3 earned). The next day we had to play against the undefeated team of our group and lost 6-4 eliminating us from contention.

For this edition, we decided to recruit some new weapons to add to our pitching staff. First Victor Prieto, who played with the Marlins and Red Sox from 2002 to 2005 between Rookie and Single-A. His best season was in 2002 when he was 4-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 31.1 innings for the Gulf Coast Marlins.

We also recruited Luis Torres who played with the Nationals from 1999 to 2003 and had a career record of 28-32 with a 4.35 ERA in 457.1 innings throughout 110 games, 68 starts between Rookie, Single-A and Double-A levels. Juan Carlos Ugas who recorded a 5.30 ERA in 100.2 innings for the Dodgers Single-A team between 1999 and 2000.

And last, but not least, Juan Carlos Ovalles who played for the Diamondbacks, Mariners, White Sox and Nationals from 1999 to 2006. He played in an  independent league from 2006 to 2009 there too. His career record, including his years in independent league was 44-44 with a 4.27 ERA in 609.1 innings throughout 340 games, 35 starts between Rookie, Single-A and Double-A levels.

Hopefully these new acquisitions, with the rest of our pitching staff will help us contend in the tournament this year, and hopefully win it all.

Here’s a video of the last out in the 2008 Fall Classic’s Final. The UNDEFEATED champions that year were our Venezuelans arch-rivals “San Luis Venezuela.”

For more information about the tournament go to the MSBL website, and don’t forget to root for my (Juan Dominguez, @JuanchoXIII) team, “Cachicamos de Venezuela.” BTW. “Cachicamos” mean Armadillos.

The picture is our last year’s team. In case you are wondering I’m the fifth from right to left in the standing row.

Apparently, Vene was asked if there was a pitcher in professional baseball history to strike out 27 batters in one game. After doing some research, he found out that in May 13, 1952, a 19-year old pitcher named Ron Necciai struck out 27 batters in one game.

Necciai was playing in the Appalachian League for the Pirates at the time, and is the only professional pitcher ever to achieve such a great feature. The hurler not only won the game 7-0, and struck out 27 batters, he also threw a no hitter.

During the game only four batters reached base. One reached on an error from the short stop, one after from a walk, one by a hit by pitch and another one after a passed ball from the catcher after a third strike. Only two players put the ball in play, one player grounded out to first and the one who reached on an error.

Necciai struck out 24 players more in his next start, but after he was called up by the Pirates in August that same year he went 1-6 with a 7.08 ERA. That was the only time he ever played in the Majors, he played a couple more Minor League seasons, but he couldn’t overcome a series of injuries.

It is hard to imagine that anybody could achieve that feature ever again at a professional level. And even though he couldn’t make it as a Major League pitcher he should always be remembered as the only professional hurler to strike out 27 batters in one game.

Fragments of Juan Vene’s column of today’s Ultimas Noticias’ edition were used in this article.

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