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I Have A New Crush, And He's A 21-Year-Old Cuban Shortstop Named Yolbet Sanchez That The Orioles Are After.

https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/1092481319429320705
Give me the Cubans. Give me all of the Cubans here in Baltimore. I'm over the old prospects, Victor Victor Mesa, his brother Victor Mesa Jr, and Sandy Gaston. The Orioles missed out on those three guys earlier this season as the Mesa brothers signed with the Miami Marlins and Gaston signed with the Rays despite the Orioles having the most International Signing Bonus money. 21-year-old Cuban shortstop, Yolbert Sanchez is the guy to keep an eye on now. According to Jesse Sanchez, the Orioles and General Manager, Mike Elias are currently down in the Dominican Republic scouting Sanchez and could make an offer to him. Sanchez is allowed to sign with MLB clubs TODAY, and with the Orioles being down there checking him out, that has to give them the lead in the matter.
The Orioles still have the most International Signing Bonus Money, right around $6 million, and as I discussed in previous posts, this is literally a "use it or lose it" scenario. You can't transfer this money elsewhere and if you don't use it, than it's gone. That is why it's important that the Orioles use any amount of money they can to snag Sanchez. Shortstop is a bit of a hole right now, no one is sure if Jonathan Villar will play there, or if Rule-5 Pick, Richie Martin will play there. Either way, I think Sanchez is a better fit, I'd prefer if Villar stayed at second. The Orioles don't have much depth at the middle infield spots, so this would for sure help in that area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTiDFoIUQR4
I don't think he's necessarily a top 100 MLB prospect, and if the Orioles signed him I'm guessing he'd be around the 11th to 15th best prospect, which isn't great because the Orioles farm system isn't the best. It's improving, three prospects in the top 100, but it's not where we want it to be yet. I read that one scout said he would translate to a second or third round pick if he was in college. He's not going to come in and be the next Alex Rodriguez at short, but he's a damn good ballplayer. Nonetheless, he's the top amateur shortstop prospect available and this is a signing that they need to make because it'll show the new regime is fully here. They mentioned that they want to fully dive into the international market, and this would be a hell of a way to start it off.
Sanches is known for a smooth glove and having above average speed, something that the Orioles really lack outside of Villar. You can see in that terrible grainy video above that he has good feet in the field and has a good arm. His bat has some work to be done, but it's the fielding that impressed me. He's not your prototypical Cuban prospect as he needs the offense to develop, but he still would be a good addition. As was the case with the Mesa's and Gaston, the Orioles are perceived to be the favorites, but as we know, nothing is a certain with the Baltimore Orioles so now we wait and see.
Does the possibility of signing Sanchez mean anything for the Orioles and their #1 overall draft pick? Well there is rumors that Bobby Witt Jr, a high school shortstop, will be the top selection in the draft. I don't think this changes it at all, I think if you can sign Sanchez, you sign him, and if you can draft Witt, you do that. You can put talent other places, having two shortstop prospects isn't a bad thing. People forget Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado were shortstop prospects at one time.
The Orioles have a track record of signing the shitty Cubans, Henny Urrutia and Dariel Alvarez, here's to hoping they finally hit the Cuban lottery. Come on, Elias, make a splash. Bring Sanchez to Baltimore.