Padres 2017 International Signings
The 2016 international spending period was something historic for the San Diego Padres.
The team spent $40.8 million dollars in total, on 47 players and further advanced this young farm system. The influence of all these young players is already paying dividends, as players like Adrian Morejon, Jorge Ona, Luis Almanzar and Jeisson Rosario are already advancing in their growth.
This season the team is not able to be as extravagant with their spending, but that is to say they may not find some quality players. The Padres are restricted to not spending over $300,000 on any single player, and with that must be frugal with their selections. Not only must they be thrifty, but the teams’ scouting department must be diligent in their evaluations of all the proposed talent within their price range.
Names of the 30 men signed by the team so far have surfaced, but little is known about each and every one of them.
Some scouting reports and videos have surfaced of a few of them, and here is a breakdown right now on who the team has signed so far.
Luis Paez is an outstanding hitter, with ability to square up baseball to all fields. At 5’11, 160 he still has room to grow and develop what is currently a line drive, gap power into true plus power. He has above average speed presently. Defensively, he has a strong arm and could stick at shortstop long-term. The right handed hitter and thrower could also could emerge as a center field candidate depending on his cultivation.
Jarryd Dale is the son of Phil Dale, who pitched in the Reds’ organization. At 16, the younger Dale has a decent chance to contribute eventually for the team. The right handed hitter is 6′ 2″ and 180 lbs presently, and hit .206 in 68 at bats for the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League. He played some second base, but mostly manned shortstop and did so as a 15-year-old in the highest level of Australian baseball. In this report from ESPN, he has clearly shown his advanced skill. The Padres did well in adding him to their already top-notch system.
Manuel Partida is a left-handed pitcher from Monterrey Mexico with an easy motion and a fastball that reaches 90 MPH. Edgar Martinez is a Cuban pitcher who posted a 20-2 K-BB ratio with a 0.60 ERA in 15 innings for Cuba at the 15U World Cup in Japan in 2015.
Here is a video of Frank Lopez who was signed out of Venezuela for $300,000. He is tall and lanky and looks as though he has a decent off speed pitch.
Here is a complete list of the signings so far. Ages and scouting reports on all players have yet to really surface, but we will be here to keep you posted once they do.
Manuel Partida (LHP) Mexico $350,000 ($87, 500 goes to his Mexican Team)
Frank Lopez (RHP) Venezuela $300,000
Yeison Santana (SS) Dominican Republic
Nick Rios (LHP ) Venezuela $140,000
Jason Sanatana (SS) Dominican Republic $300,000
Luis Paez 16 years old (SS) Dominican Republic Bats
Christian Heredia (OF) Dominican Republic $300,000
Emanuel Guerra (SS)
Angel Solarte 16 years old (OF) Venezuela $300,000
Matias Polanco (C) Venezuela
Edgar Martinez (RHP) Cuba $300,000
Jarryd Dale 16 years old (SS) Australia $300,000
Yerri Landines (SS) Venezuela
Laurbert Arias (RHP) Venezuela
Jesus Cisneros (RHP) Venezuela
Mauricio Rodriguez (RHP) Venezuela
Carlos Guarate (RHP) Venezuela
Jesus Gonzalez (LHP) Venezuela
Brandon Valenzuela (C) Mexico
Omar Cruz (LHP) Mexico
Julio de la Cruz (SS/OF) Dominican Republic
Laurbert Arias (RHP) Venezuela
Junior Perez (OF) Dominican Republic
Alan Mundo (RHP) Mexico
Alfredo Casteneda (RHP) Mexico
Sergio Carrizosa (RHP) Mexico
Miguel Rondon (RHP) Venezuela
Anderson Arias (C/SS) Dominican Republic
Adrian Leo (RHP) Mexico
Vlad Echeveria (SS/OF) Dominican Republic
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
No guarantees, but 77 international signings in almost 2 season, somewhere in there has to be a home grown all-star, somewhere. #Padres2020…..like Moses guiding the Israelites.
Not to gripe about the past, again, but where has this type of international player signing been for the last 40 years????
or have we just not heard about this or the Padres failed to publicize it for fear of higher expectations???
or 40 years of previous international signing have just sucked.
Sadly they have never delved into this market as much as they have in the past 12-18 months. There was a time in the 80’s when they cultivated a lot of talent from Puerto Rico (Alomar’s, Baerga, ext.) but never this amount. It is certainly exciting to see. Thank you for the comments
Great update. What is up from last year’s signee Wen-Hua Sung? He’s not listed on any of the Padres’ minor league teams.
Excellent coverage as usual. I still don’t get Padre fans who want to dump Cahill, Richard,and Chacin from the staff, when they acknowledge they would only bring back a Low A prospect.
Look at the systems rosters of Tin Caps on down. We are loaded with prospects. And we just signed 21 more. Why do we want somebody else’s prospects ‘blocking’ our own development.
We control Hand for 2 more years, he is an All-star. Trade him. Unless we get a major league ready SP, why would we trade him? Except for Weaver, I would keep the staff we have now.
Yes, we probably lose Chacin, Cahill, and Richard after the season. Maybe not. We have a very young team, the above players provide much value in leadership and how to be a pro. That goes double for Solarte. Why people want to trade him is beyond me. Depleting our rosters of these vets creates a losing culture to the younger players. I actually like this team. Yes, there is an occasional blowout, but this team is fun to watch. I was going to say this team ‘battles’ but the Cubs series blows that theory.
Baseball America has a Team by Team International signing tracker so far they have ID’d 19 have signed with the Padres.
Manuel Partida, lhp, Mexico, $350,000.
Frank Lopez, rhp, Venezuela
Yeison Santana, ss, Dominican Republic, $300,000.
Luis Paez, ss, Dominican Republic, $300,000.
Cristian Heredia, of, Dominican Republic, $300,000.
Angel Solarte, of, Venezuela
Emmanuelle Guerra, ss, Venezuela
Matias Polanco, c, Venezuela
Edgar Martinez, rhp, Cuba, $300,000.
Jared Dale, ss, Australia, $300,000.
Yerri Landines, ss, Venezuela
Laurbert Arias, rhp, Venezuela
Jesus Cisneros, rhp, Venezuela
Mauricio Rodriguez, rhp, Venezuela
Carlos Guarate, rhp, Venezuela
Jesus Gonzalez, lhp, Venezuela
Brandon Valenzuela, c, Mexico
Omar Cruz, lhp, Mexico
Julio de la Cruz, ss/of, Dominican Republic
Nice update