And We Have A Record… maybe?

If El Nuevo Herald can be trusted, the Boston Red Sox just obliterated the record international amateur signing bonus by inking Dominican SS/3B Michael Almanazar to a $3 million contract to open their 2007 signing season with a bang. Among other things, this ends the reign of Joel Guzman’s hold on the title, and the former Dodger turned Devil Rays farmhand will now almost certainly be relegated to obscurity.

Update: Reader Navin points out conflicting reports that have Almanazar’s bonus sitting at a measly $1.5 million. Perhaps Guzman’s name will live on as an answer to an obscure trivia question for another year.

July 4, 2007 - Posted by jhelfgott | Signing Period | | 10 Comments

10 Comments »

I written before and I want to ask you something somewhat off-topic. Besides the total immersion is there another you learned to speak Cuban, Dominican, or Mexican Spanish?

Comment by Brian from mississippi | July 4, 2007
Hi there, I love your blog. Just thought I’d let you know a few sites (including Soxprospects.com says Almanzar only signed for $1.5 million). Here’s a Boston Herald link that mentions it: http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=1009724

Please keep up the good work, I really enjoy your blog!

Comment by Navin | July 5, 2007
Hey Brian.

I came to the Dominican Republic, where I started my year, with only the most basic grasp of Spanish. While I didn’t actually take Spanish courses there, I really gained a working knowledge of the language in the DR. I have been told in every Spanish-speaking country I have visited since that I speak with a Dominican accent. The whole year long, it was a struggle to remember to pronounce the letter ‘S,’ and I still smirk inwardly whenever anyone asks for a bolsa, so I’d say the Dominican Spanish influence is definitely still with me.

Comment by jhelfgott | July 6, 2007
also Baseball america is repoting the same thing that it is 1.5 million dollars. here is the link.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/news/264421.html

Comment by Norberto paulino | July 6, 2007
Will any other Latin countries begin to supply more talent to MLB besides just the DR, Venezuela or potentially Cuba? Colombia? Nicaragua? Or Mexico?

Comment by Richard | July 7, 2007
Richard, Colombia has already provided one of the biggest names of this year’s free agent market (if not the biggest) in RHP Julio Teheran, who signed with the Braves. It seems like some of these other countries are beginning to get bigger talent and teams are scouting them more heavily than in the past.

Comment by Navin | July 7, 2007
Nicaragua and Colombia are the big ones. Scouts weren’t going to Nicaragua in the mid-80s/early-90s because it was thought to be unsafe. Now, they’re back, and the talent is pretty cheap. Colombians are generally considered more athletic than Nicaraguans (Nicaragua is a pretty short country as far as national averages go), but Nicaragua balances that out by being a little more baseball crazy.

Scouting/signing in both countries is growing, though, unlike Panama, which is pretty much staying the same.

The big explosion will be if/when Cuba opens up.

Comment by jhelfgott | July 8, 2007
Visit My Website

Comment by Norberto paulino | July 8, 2007
Ha Ha – bolsa – I think the Domincans say fundo or funda, something like that.

Thanks for the reply…keep up the good work! Oh, and I’m still jealous of your travels.

Comment by Brian from Mississippi | July 12, 2007
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce

Comment by Idetrorce | December 16, 2007