Royals Close to Signing 19 yr old Cuban Pitching Prospect

[doomy3]

If this comes true, this is great to see. Would love to see the Royals make a splash in the Cuban/Dominican market. $7 Million for a guy with question marks is not peanuts, so it's nice to see the commitment, if this is true. Seems like a high risk/reward type of signing.

Hopefully there is more of this to come...

Noel Arguelles-S- Player Dec. 5 - 11:03 pm et

The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton reports that the Royals and Noel Arguelles are close to major league deal worth $7 million over five years.
Arguelles would be a big signing for the Royals. The 19-year-old Cuban defector is very much a mystery, but he displayed an excellent fastball for a left-hander before taking the last year off. While it's doubtful that he'd be of any immediate use, he has a chance to develop into a second or third starter in time.
Source: Royals_Report on twitter
Related: Royals

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=6133

[doomy3]

Keith Law had him ranked #10 on his list of top 50 free agents this winter.

"If he was an American high school or junior college player, he’d be a solid first-rounder with a chance to be a top-10 guy and would probably be a $4 million bonus baby. As a free agent, he should easily double that."

[doomy3]

http://riveraveblues.com/tag/noel-arguelles/

Arguelles defected from the Cuban junior national team with current Red Sox prospect Jose Iglesias in the summer of 2008 and is just now at the point where he’s ready and able to sign with a major league team. Arguelles is 19 and already pitches with a solid-average fastball, although before he defected he had worked as high as 91-94 and will probably return there once he’s throwing on a regular schedule again. His changeup projects better than his curveball, with the change a potentially plus pitch. What everyone notices about Arguelles is his body — loose, lean, athletic, with good projection; his new agents took him underground for a few weeks to get him back into playing shape and the results have definitely impressed. If he was an American high school or junior college player, he’d be a solid first-rounder with a chance to be a top-10 guy and would probably be a $4 million bonus baby. As a free agent, he should easily double that.

[doomy3]

http://www.kansascity.com/spor...ry/1613490.html

Sources say Arguelles, 6 feet 3 and 200 pounds, wowed scouts in recent tryout camps with an above-average fastball and displaying plus pitches with his curveball and changeup.

“If he was in this year’s draft,” one source said, “he’d be one of the first four or five picks. But he’s not ready at this point for the major leagues."

another interesting thing.

The Royals made a strong run last summer at Cuban shortstop José Iglesias, who defected with Arguelles last summer in Canada. Iglesias eventually signed with Boston for $8.2 million.

[Sure-Oz]

This would be huge for the royals, hope it happens. I know the Yankees, Mariners and A's have been very interested too.

[Kyle DeLexus]

Nice, good to see them doing something

[BryanBusby]

Nice, good to see them doing something

Yeah. Baby steps I suppose, baby steps.

[doomy3]

Yeah. Baby steps I suppose, baby steps.

This would be more than baby steps, IMO. If this happens, we directly outbid some big market teams, and got this done when we were completely under the radar on this kid. This is the kind of thing that can make us a winning team, because it is nearly impossible for us to outbid teams for impact free agents in the US. If we can land a few more of these guys, this is the right direction. Imagine a rotation of:

Greinke
Montgomery
Arguelles
Crow
Duffy

That would be a hell of a start.

[DeezNutz]

Would be a great move. Dayton, for as much as I think he's a fucking moron, would deserve a lot of credit.

[DeezNutz]

$7 Million for a guy with question marks is not peanuts

I applaud the effort, for sure, but this is the type of deal that the Royals should do in spades. And is something that common sense--something that often eludes our brass--demands.

Think of the countless ways this organization has absolutely pissed away 1.4 mil. per year. Wow...

Don't sign Farnsworth and throw lures in the water for a shit ton of top talent in Latin America...

[doomy3]

I applaud the effort, for sure, but this is the type of deal that the Royals should do in spades. And is something that common sense--something that often eludes our brass--demands.

Think of the countless ways this organization has absolutely pissed away 1.4 mil. per year. Wow...

Don't sign Farnsworth and throw lures in the water for a shit ton of top talent in Latin America...

Oh no question at all. I would love to see this type of move become the norm. This is exactly how we should be spending money. High risk high reward, instead of spending it on overpaid stopgaps.

[KChiefs1]

Royals are doing it the right way by developing their farm system instead of signing free agents...this will go a lot further in the long run.

[DeezNutz]

Oh no question at all. I would love to see this type of move become the norm. This is exactly how we should be spending money. High risk high reward, instead of spending it on overpaid stopgaps.

And this is exactly why I can't too pumped about our "high" draft budget. No shit...we're spend a lot because this is where every team can compete.

Don't pass on Porcello and Wieters, citing budget and the inability to pony up an additional million or two, and then sign Farnsworth, Guillen, Buck AND Olivo, or countless other fucking scrubs.

Allocate the money where it makes the most sense for the future with the potential for the most positive impact.

That said, go get this fucking lefty. Get it done, period. Need to go an extra 500K. Done. I don't care. No excuses.

[Slayer Diablo]

IIRC, isn't this what we've done with the last few promising prospectives who left after a couple losing seasons?

[eazyb81]

Nice, good to see them doing something

Huh?

We've spent more on the draft the last three years than any MLB team. That doesn't count as "doing something" to you?

The MLB-level talent on this team is still terrible, and free agents are not Dayton Moore's forte, but the talent we've added through the draft and Latin America the past few years is building the foundation we need to eventually become a perennial contender.

[notorious]

Huh?

We've spent more on the draft the last three years than any MLB team. That doesn't count as "doing something" to you?

The MLB-level talent on this team is still terrible, and free agents are not Dayton Moore's forte, but the talent we've added through the draft and Latin America the past few years is building the foundation we need to eventually become a perennial contender.

Until the Yankees and Red Sox loot every good player off the team again.

[alnorth]

Jeff Passan is reporting (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-arguelles120509&prov=yhoo&type=lgns) this as a done deal, he just needs to pass a physical. 5 years, $7 million, with another $2 million in possible incentives. It is a major league contract so even though he'll probably start somewhere in the minors, he has to go on the 40-man roster, so the Royals would be incentivized to bring him up ASAP.

[DeezNutz]

Fantastic news.

[kcfanXIII]

Until the Yankees and Red Sox loot every good player off the team again.

if that happens, i will never watch mlb again. it opened the door to the dark ages of baseball here in kc.<edit> maybe it wasn't the start, but it sure extended it<end edit> no way the royals could survive that again.

[Kyle DeLexus]

Huh?

We've spent more on the draft the last three years than any MLB team. That doesn't count as "doing something" to you?

The MLB-level talent on this team is still terrible, and free agents are not Dayton Moore's forte, but the talent we've added through the draft and Latin America the past few years is building the foundation we need to eventually become a perennial contender.

Read this...

And this is exactly why I can't too pumped about our "high" draft budget. No shit...we're spend a lot because this is where every team can compete.

Don't pass on Porcello and Wieters, citing budget and the inability to pony up an additional million or two, and then sign Farnsworth, Guillen, Buck AND Olivo, or countless other ****ing scrubs.

Allocate the money where it makes the most sense for the future with the potential for the most positive impact.

That said, go get this ****ing lefty. Get it done, period. Need to go an extra 500K. Done. I don't care. No excuses.