Since the Cincinnati Reds got out of the penalty period in 2019 (they went over their allotted spending amount in 2016 – the final year before the rules changed that made it impossible to spend over your allotment as long as you were willing to face the penalties) they have spent their money and picked up 7-figure players. Signing players to 7-figure deals was something that the team pretty much avoided for non-Cuban players prior to 2019. They had signed just three such players in nearly two decades, but since then there’s been four 7-figure signings for the organization. The 2023 signing period will begin on Sunday. Cincinnati will have a spending pool of $6,366,900
Last year saw them sign Ricardo Cabrera (the organization’s 12th rated prospect) to the largest bonus they’ve handed out to a non-Cuban signee. This year they are once again expected to land one of the top players in the signing class. Catcher Alfredo Duno is currently rated as the 4th best prospect in the class by MLB Pipeline. There’s an argument, just like there was for Cabrera, that he’s the top player in the class. He’s a 5-tool catcher with a chance to have above-average defense and plus power.
Among MLB Pipeline’s Top 50 international prospects, Alfredo Duno is the only one that the Reds are expected to sign. If that’s going to be the case then getting a guy who may be at the top of the list is certainly the way to go about it.
But it’s not always the top guys that turn into the big prospects – though there is absolutely some correlation between getting the bigger bonuses and turning into high-level players down the line. Back in 2018, when the Reds were still in the penalty phase and could not spend more than $300,000 to sign any single prospect, they got some kid named Elly De La Cruz to sign for $65,000. That year in Baseball America’s write up for the Reds report from the signing period only two players were mentioned: Ilvin Fernandez and Jeferson Geraldo. Geraldo hit .158 in 2019 and was released in 2020. Fernandez has struggled since completing his first season back in 2019, posting a .595 OPS in 2021 and then a .495 OPS in 2022 and has just two career home runs in 113 career games played.
That, of course, is a bit of a different situation since the penalties kept the Reds from going after anyone that was considered even a mid-tier signing at that point, but there’s a long list of mid-six-figure signings that struggled to get beyond complex and or rookie ball. There’s even a case where one player who had the largest bonus handed out for a several year stretch never even played in a single game for the organization because he couldn’t get/remain healthy.
I’ll have reports on the signings next week. In the past few years the Reds have had signings roll out over a few day period of time with things being official, so there may be reports coming out over several days.
You may want to edit your last paragraph. I get your intention but the wording does not flow at all.
What part are you talking about? I’ve got a raging headache but I read it and am not seeing any confusion.
“signings roll out of a few day period of time” … I suggest changing “of” to “over.” Hope you feel better very soon!
This is why editing your own work doesn’t go well. Your brain knows what your thought was and just reads that instead of what’s there.
Duno gets a nice write up. Given the time it takes for a catcher to develop, I’m trying not to get to excited. What I am excited about is the more aggressive approach in signing international prospects. We keep this up every year and our pipeline will be flowing.
Doug, I saw some time ago that there was a Facebook posting that Australian pitcher Darcy Longstaff signed with the Reds. However, it has never shown up in an official transaction report. Wouldn’t this be considered an International signing making it ineligible to officially be reported until the 15th?
Maybe, maybe not. It depends on when he was born. It’s possible that he was eligible to sign in the previous signing period.
According to this he has signed with the Reds and will be in AZ in February.
https://baseball.com.au/news/darcy-longstaff-signs-professional-contract-with-the-cincinnati-reds/
Yeap that is what I saw only on Donald Lutz Facebook page. But it has never appeared on Reds Transaction Page.
And he also doesn’t have an MiLB page…. which suggests that it’s not official. For what reason is the question.
I wondered if it counts against their 2023 money.
Depends on if he actually signed a contract or just “agreed to sign”, with the actual deal being signed on Sunday.
“What he does well is barrel the baseball and consistently hit the ball hard.”
This could help.
Here here! And “he has the chance to be an elite defender because of his soft hands, flexibility and blocking skills. He can frame the ball well, shows good receiving skills and moves well laterally”.