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Padres News: Padres Eager to Make Splash Internationally

By John Hiatt

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The San Diego Padres made one of the biggest splashes of the off-season out of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. Despite that, they are still chomping at the bit after missing out on Cuban Prospect Yoan Moncada.

The Padres (like they have been all off-season) were very strong candidates to land the 19-year-old Cuban Prospect. Yoan Moncada ended up signing a $31.5 Million dollar contract with the Boston Red Sox. The Padres were not too far off of what he ended up taking, the Swinging Friars offered him around $25 million dollars.

While the team may have missed out on Yoan Moncada one of the top prospects in the game, they still have an edge when it comes to the international side of things. As most Friar fans know, the Padres General Manager, AJ Preller specialized in scouting international talent when he worked for the Texas Rangers.

Before taking the GM Job with the Padres, when he was with Texas, here are just a few of the names that A.J. Preller picked up for the Rangers.

Yu Darvish ring any bells? It should! He has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball for a few years now.

While the team was very focused on getting Yoan Moncada it wasn’t the only option they have, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com Mike Dee, Padres President and CEO had this to say about the situation:

"” We would have loved to have him, but we now have flexibility we might not have had”."

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The Padres look like they will be very big players in the international market this year with A.J. Preller at the helm. They will be surpassing teams like the Angels, Red Sox, Diamonbacks, Yankees, and Rays who will all be limited to 300,000 over the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons in the international signing period for amateurs under the age of 23.

If i know one thing, i trust A.J. Preller will put the Padres on the map in the international market, just like he has done with revamping the team this off-season. Stay tuned as we will all find out together what happens with the Padres in the international market.

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