Jurickson Profar

officially signs with TX per TR Sullivan as was widely expected.

He signed as a shortstop, but no one really had a decent scouting report on him as a position player so hopefully we will hear more about what TX scouts think of him as a SS in the coming weeks. I would prefer other shortstops and other pitchers in that price range; some other interesting pitchers signed for half that in fact.

I bet TX will pitch him out of the bullpen on occasion; you'd think they might have a little say in this for 800k. Having said that, his ceiling as a starter isn't through the roof; seemed like he profiles as a mid-rotation guy as he lacks projection (another short skinny kid). Sits 88-92 with a decent BB (not sure of the change). But then, who knew Perez would be such a stud, and that Alvarez and Escobar would be so advanced at 16-17?

I also hope he doesnt turn out to be a prima donna, demanding to play a position that runs counter to the prevailing opinion of most scouts.

There have been at least 2 other major signs that have yet to be announced with 3-4 lesser signs (100-200k) sure to be finalized and announced in a few weeks. By way of comparison, Tx signed the following seven 6-figure players last year for about 2.1 million: Richard Alvarez est 550k; Edo Escobar, 350k; Esdras Abreu, 550k; Ahn, 275k; Hector Herrera, 160k; Teo Martinez est 125k; and Hector Marinez est 125k. See my worksheet in the sidebar for a complete summary of all 39 of the 2008-2009 signings and estimated bonuses.


The one thing that I am hoping for is that TX still plans to target some of the better Pacific Rim players when the become available at the end of August-early September - this is the second wave really though many high school prospects from Taiwain and Korea have been signing over the last several months as well. There have been various reports of TX scouts in Japan so I'm sure they have been poking around in Korea, Taiwain and Australia as well.



##########