Keep in mind these are only rumors, not fact.
- Brett Wallace has signed, the announcement is pending and should come Monday, when the Cards come home.
- The Cardinals are really on Dominican 3B Roberto Pina, who sounds like he could be the Dominican version of Brett Wallace due to his quick bat, nice power and a thick lower half that should only get bigger as he fills out. That’s just awkward to say, no matter how you say it.
Filed under: 2008 MLB draft, Brett Wallace, July 2 intn'l signing period | Tagged: Brett Wallace, Roberto Pina
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Yeah, Pickle and a few other guys nailed the Wallace signing, said the Cards wanted to wait until they got back home so they could show him off. Good call guys, great news.
Erik, where’d you get the info on Pina? I don’t mean the rumor but the part about him being stocky. I can’t find a thing about him.
in the comments over at Saberscouting, which isn’t the best source in the world, therefore it could just be a wild rumor. The Wallace rumor actually came from an emailer who will remain anonymous, which may confirm some of the speculation already out there.
Great news if true, Erik.
Lassie…I am guessing the Pina news is coming from an informed poster at saberscouting, who seems to know the Latin players real well.
Could be wrong….seems like alot of the top Latin kids already have a verbal agreement…unfortunately it seems Yorman is one of the…he is linked to the Reds.
Cards are again..not in on any of the 1M+ guys….I can understand..but when you see the Reds, A’s, Brewers and Indians paying big money…its not about market size.
Its about the allotment of budget…Cards still need to open up the purse strings a bit.
But hey..anything can happen…Reds got Johnny Cueto for $2,500
Thanks,
Yeah, I would like at least one of the higher profile guys but guys like Tejada, Cueto, Reyes, Carlos Gomez, etc weren’t really one of these guys so as long as they’re involved and are signing more players I’m happy.
I’m really anxious to see if the two scouts who signed Reyes and Gomez for the Mets who now work for the Cards have any influence on the players signed and see how those players progress if they do.
I don’t get it. If Pina is going to inherit the nickname “El Morsa,” why chase him as well as Wallace? (Yeah, I know, mixed genders, but ignore that.) An organization can’t have too many power pitchers, but it can very easily have too many big-bottomed-first-basemen-waiting-to-happen. Is this particular skill set really one where the Latin American scouting program should be looking for people?
I am always a fan of SS’s and LHP’s
That is where I would spend my budget.
Will they just start Wallace in St Louis and get rid of Duncan?
Please?
I really don’t mind, get as many bats as you can. I’m sure they will get some up the middle players and lefties too, but one thing I’ve noticed is the lack of an advanced bat amongst their latin american prospects. I’d be happy with El Macho Morsa.
I agree with Erik about accumulating hitters, Bill. If you look at the Brewers right now, they have a terrific trade chip in Matt LaPorta, because the guy is killing the ball (Mat Gamel, too). Heck, there are even rumors they may swap Prince Fielder–what would a team give for *him*?–since LaPorta could take his place. I’d say that you can never have too many outstanding hitters in your organization, regardless of position.
One thought: all these 16-year-olds who’ll be signed next week, they’re the equivalent of high school sophomores. Which makes them a very volatile commodity, very difficult to project. Therefore, if the Cards’ budget for signings is, say, $3MM, I’d rather they pay $100-200K apiece for 15-20 very good players than sink $1-2MM each into 2 young kids.
That way you spread the risk and still allow yourself the chance at signing a future star or two (what’d we pay Richard Castillo or Gerardo Mannbel?). Again, you’re signing HS sophomores–there’s really no telling what the upside could be with these players in their mid-teens. Although it would admittedly be exhilarating to ink some high-profile kid to a 7-figure bonus, that would be similar to a large, intoxicating free agent signing…and those frequently backfire.
[...] Rumor has it that first round draft pick Brett Wallace has signed with the Cardinals and his signing will be announced on Monday. I would expect (hope?) that they will put on a similar show at Busch as they did with second-round pick Lance Lynn. Perhaps suit Wallace up and let him take BP swings alongside Pujols? [...]
[...] a bat as polished as his is is pretty exciting,” Luhnow said. Future Redbirds, naturally, mentioned De La Cruz/Pina before and made the comparison between this signing and the Cardinals recent first-round pick writing: [...]
ROBERTO PINA IS MY NEPHEW,WE’RE VERY HAPPY,THAT HIS A CARDINALS. BECAUSE WE LOVE,ALBERT PUJOLS. YEEEEAAAA BABEEEE