While details of every dollar will never be made public for how the Pirates used that international money, there are records of who the Pirates did sign using international spending money available from that off-season.
One such player the Pirates pursuaded was Sergio Campana. Sergio just celebrated his 18th birthday a few days ago. He is not ranked as one of the Pirates top 50 prospects heading into the 2020 season.
Campana spent his first year in professional ball last year as a 17 year old. He plays centerfield and projects to be a toolsy outfielder.
In his first professional season at Gulf Coast League, Campana swiped 24 bags while batting .281/.362/.374. Again he did that as a 17 year old.
Cutch played in 45 games as an 18 year old in the Gulf Coast League where he batted .297/.411/.430 while swiping 13 bags.
The numbers are comparable, but it is a small sample size for teenage ballplayers. Cutch went on to finish in the top 5 NL MVP votes four years in a row, collected 4 silver sluggers, won a gold glove, and played in 5 consecutive All-Star Games. Campana has a long way to go to match that.
Personally the signature isn't very aesthetic looking and the lack of team information makes it unappealing too.
Details of the Pirates signing the toolsy teenage outfielder can be found here.
At what level do you start paying attention to the prospects in your favorite team's farm system?
I follow pretty closely, not really for investment purpose, but because I enjoy following minor leaguers. It does help to be able to get in on them early though. Panini Elite is always a good way to get some of the guys for cheap.
ReplyDeleteThese kids just don't know how to sign their name anymore, all they do is text in hashtags and internet shorthand #smh
ReplyDeleteI used to follow prospects fairly closely but I wasn't interpreting numbers properly; some leagues have inflated stats for example. After a while I stopped prospecting and tried following only my own team's prospects. That was around the time the Red Sox were either graduating or trading them all, so I gave up.
I completely agree with you about the signatures. I really want an Acuna or Tatis Jr autograph for my collection, but they both have terrible looking signatures.
DeleteI only really pay attention if I hear the A's broadcasters talk about them. Sometimes I'll look up the A's Top 10 prospects and read the quick summaries. But my attention span is usually pretty short.
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