Padres News: Padres Have Been Signing International Players After All

By Andrew Beccarelli | Mar 27, 2015

The San Diego Padres have made a lot of moves this off-season to remake their roster for the 2015 season. While it has been extremely impressive to see new GM A.J. Preller wheel-and-deal, one area that has made a lot of us here at Friars On Base curious has been his inability to sign the high profile international talent.

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Preller is well regarded on his knowledge of the international prospects, it was one of the main reasons the Padres ownership hired him. Preller had a lot of people turning their heads towards the Padres these last few months, as the Padres’ name kept coming up as finalists to sign the three big free agents coming out of Cuba: Yasmany Tomas, Yoan Moncada, and Hector Olivera.

Unfortunately, Tomas signed with the Diamondbacks, Moncada with the Red Sox (that one hurt), and Olivera recently agreed to sign with the Dodgers.

While we are all disappointed the Padres did not land either of these three sought after players, that doesn’t mean the Padres haven’t been making noise. We just haven’t heard it.

Yesterday, our friend Corey Brock at MLB.com, wrote about the moves that the Padres have been making internationally and interviewed the Padres new director of International Scouting, Chris Kemp.

As of March 26th, the Padres have signed 12 international players from Venezuela, Guatemala, Far East Asia, and South America. The player’s ages range from 16 to 19 yrs. old, with contracts between $5,000 to $100,000.

I gotta tell ya, this makes me feel a lot better. While I’m very happy with the moves Preller has made this off-season, and I see some talent in our minor league system, the international market is an area that the Padres have been missing out on for a while and needs to be improved.

Padres fans want their own Jose Abreu or Yasil Puig success story.

Thankfully, this appears to be one of Preller’s goals. It’s nice to see the Padres are working hard to sign international players, even if it doesn’t make headlines.

Of all the international prospects recently signed, the “prize” so far has been 16 yr. old Dominican pitcher, Starlin Cordero.

Cordero has recently been converted from an outfielder to a pitcher. Even though he has only been throwing for two months, he is already reaching speeds up to 94 mph.

What do you guys think about the Padres international moves so far this off-season?

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