Yankees showing more interest in Luis Heredia

July 18, 2010 by Mike Axisa 21 Comments

The international signing period has been pretty slow around all of baseball, not just with the Yankees, and a lot of that has to do with MLB’s identity investigations. The overall lack of talent this year is certainly a factor as well. The best pitcher on the market this year is 15-year-old Mexican righty Luis Heredia, and reportedly the Yankees are getting more serious about pursuing him. They have expressed interest in him in the past.

Baseball America ranked Heredia as the top pitching prospect and second best overall prospect on the international market this year (sub. req’d), saying the 6-foot-4, 180 pounder “has an excellent fastball that sits at 88-91 mph with good life and has touched 92.” Heredia is in a unique situation because he’s already signed on with a Mexican League club, so any team that wishes to sign him has to negotiate with the club for his rights. Under this scenario, the team will usually keep 75% of the bonus while the player receives just 25%. It could cost upwards of $3M to sign Heredia, a hefty price for someone so young and unrefined. The Yankees do have an exceptionally strong presence in Mexico, which should help.

kenthadley

nice to hear Yanks are doing something in IFA market….hope this kid is the goods….
- http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo
  
  I hope he’s the goods IF he signs with the Yankees.
  
  I hope they sign him, but I’m obsessed with prospects so I’m biased. It might not be the most rational approach to sign a kid who’s going to turn 16 to a 3 million dollar contract. But the Yankees know their IFA’s very well.
  
  Sign him!!
  - Gonzo
    
    I forget which book it was, but Malcolm Gladwell had some compelling evidence that athletes that are born right near the age limit for that year do very well. Heredia is just at the edge of the 45 days after the July 2nd deadline for IFA signing period.
    
    Oh, and he might have 4 plus pitches.
    - http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo
      
      Yeah, plus the Yankees have done well when signing IFA’s in recent years.
      
      Sanchez (so far), Montero, Tabata, Banuelos, Nova, Arodys, Jose Ramirez…etc
      
      So if the Yankees sign him, I trust them.
mike c

“Baseball America ranked Heredia as the top pitching prospect and second best overall prospect on the international market this year”

sounds pretty good to me
Gonzo

YES!!!!
This is the news I want to hear! I have heard about this kid for a little while now, all great. He is from Mexico, so there should be no age issues too.

Can we get Ace and ManBan to smooth over the process?
Captain Jack

I thought the IFA signing date had passed, so can they still sign this guy?
- whozat
  
  That’s a start date, not an end date
  - Gonzo
    
    Actually, I think Heredia can’t sign intil he turns 16.
    - whozat
      
      That may be true, I’m no expert. Either way, though, the IFA signing date signals that beginning of a signing period and not the end.
      - Gonzo
        
        No worries. I just looked it up. He can’t “officially” sign until August 16th. How appropriate.
Captain Bawls

15 and 6’4/180?
- radnom
  
  Hasn’t hit puberty yet.
  - http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo
    
    Haha.
    
    Wasn’t Hughes 6’5 in 9th grade or something like that?
Captain Jack

At any rate I want this guy. You hit on some IFA prospects and you miss on some and you hit on others. I wasn’t overly impressed with the draft this year (not that I thought it was a bad draft) so I’d like to see the Yankees clean house on the IFA market. Even if this kid’s five years away, it sounds like he has some serious upside.
- Gonzo
  
  From Dejan Kovacevic:
  Heredia, 15, is a 6-foot-4 right-hander who has been described in several publications as having four “plus” pitches, in the scouting vernacular, meaning the potential for all of those — fastball, changeup, slider and curveball — to above-average at the Major League Baseball level.
  
  Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10153/1062457-63.stm#ixzz0u4m13anQ
  - http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo
    
    The second coming of King Felix!
    
    Unlikely, but I can dream.
http://www.retire21.org Mike R. – Retire 21

“It could cost upwards of $3M to sign Heredia, a hefty price for someone so young and unrefined.”

The signing pays for itself because signing this kid represents a revenue stream in Mexico of 110,000,000 pesos.

/Mexican Matsui’d
- http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo
  
  Success! Haha
- Pete
  
  /weird money’d
dan

200 million payroll but minor league clubs like oakland spend more ……….what gives .you think they are charging 1500 a ticket on the high end?!