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July 03, 2007
Kelvin DeLeon
From Peter Abraham -
Yesterday was the first day teams could sign 16-year-old international prospects. The Yankees were active on the market, signing a group of players including well-regarded outfielder Kelvin DeLeon of the Dominican Republic.
DeLeon is a good hitter who projects as a corner outfielder because of his strong arm. He reportedly received a bonus of $1.6 million.
I recently read this about DeLeon in Baseball America:
The Yankees were reportedly close to signing 16-year-old Dominican outfielder Kelvin Deleon as the international free agent market was set to open in less than a month. A lefthanded-hitting, wiry strong outfielder, Deleon was commanding upwards of a $1 million signing bonus from several teams and one scout compared him with New York outfielder Melky Cabrera.
"That's who he looks like now," a scout from an AL club said. "He gets the bat on the ball with gap power, below-average runner. There is future potential in there; he's not a 'now' player. I look at the kid and wonder if he's an everyday player, just like Melky Cabrera."
I would take another Melky in a minute. Then again, with a 16-year old, you never know. Remember Jackson Melian? He's now 27-years old and playing in Double-A.
How about Jesus Montero? He's yet to play in a game for the Yankees in their system - after they threw two million at him last year.
You just never know with kids that young from outside the country.
But, given the Yankees have the money, it's a decent gamble when you're talking about a million bucks per signing.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at July 3, 2007 12:27 PM
Comments
1) Is he really only 16?
2) If so, then maybe four years in the minors, and he comes up as a major league corner outfielder at 20. Potential to have a great career.
Posted by: rbj ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.waswatching.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 3, 2007 01:14 PM
Jesus Montero ended up getting $1.6M after the Yanks found out he lied about his age - it wasn't a big age difference, something like 16 yrs and 8 months instead of 16 yrs and 2 months.
He spent the first half in Extended Spring Training, but rolled his ankle a few weeks ago running the bases. He'll be out another week or 2, then he'll join the Rookie level Gulf Coast League squad.
Posted by: Mike A. at July 3, 2007 01:17 PM
DeLeon signed for $1.1 million. From what I've seen, he looks nothing like Melky and I hope he is better than that as well. Reportedly, DeLeon has plus-plus power potential, so there goes the Melky comp. Sounds like a jealous scout to me. One source, Yankees Dominican scout actually, compared him to a young Vlad, not 'the Impaler', but Guerrero.
Also signed is a 16 year old pitcher, Arodis Vizcaino, throwing 94. So they say.
Posted by: Don at July 3, 2007 02:16 PM
Link to an article (in Spanish) regarding these signings.
http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=574174&s=bei&type=story
Jackson Melian is a whole other story. His parents death in front of his eyes, while they were following the team bus, is something so horrible that no wonder he has been a wanderer in the minor leagues.
Posted by: Don at July 3, 2007 02:38 PM
Jackson Melian is a whole other story. His parents death in front of his eyes, while they were following the team bus, is something so horrible that no wonder he has been a wanderer in the minor leagues.
======================
Looking at his minor league numbers, I think there is something else at play here. If he were a "basket case" because of his parent's death, I think he would have been out the game a long time ago.
Posted by: Raf at July 3, 2007 03:01 PM