[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I'm not going to talk about gambling. What am I going to talk about?

It's a DI Special - I'm going to talk about a kid who is 4-5 years away from playing in the majors!

I've heard the royals connected to Cuban phenom Lazarito in the past few days. He has been declared a free agent and is not subject to bonus pool limitations like normal Latin America prospects.

KC, due to the amount it spent signing LA players in 2015, is facing limits on what it can spend moving forward as a result. So it might make sense for them to spend big on Lazarito. They'd pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on him but would face no worse penalty, really, than if they didn't sign him.

Why should they consider it? Well, Lazarito is the equivalent of a top 5 draft pick. He's a 5-tool corner OF, just 16, who is very physically mature for his age and has crazy athleticism and explosiveness. He's a special talent, but carries major risk like all prospects. Will be interesting to see where he lands.

Another note: Italian youngster Marten Gasparini has drawn some rave reviews from BA scouting hounds, who ranked him in KC's top 10. He's probably not going to stick at SS due to his glove, but he profiles nicely as a future CF type with great speed.

His tools have been favorably compared to Mondesi's, and Mondesi has some of the best tools in the minors.

Thanks for the info and back to béisbol talk!