[stolen post from clutchfans, but I figured everyone here would enjoy this information]

Brian McTaggart: Oz Ocampo ramping up Astros' international efforts

Ocampo was hired on August 31 as the new director of international scouting, replacing Felix Francisco. He'll be heading out on a trip across Central America, Curacao, and Colombia soon, and though it's probably unlikely, we could be hearing about some signings, or at least some guys that have caught his eye. Remember, the Astros still have a "majority" of their bonus pool for the 2012-13 signing period remaining, and they will have the most in their pool for the 2013-14 period, by virtue of having the worst record in the league.

Here is the 2013 international class for the Astros so far:

OF Luis Payano
C Victor Tavarez
SS Kristian Trompiz

On Payano:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix Francisco
“Payano is a high-energy player and can be a five-tool player in center field. He has the ingredients to become a complete player.”

On Trompiz:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Badler
Venezuelan shortstop Kristian Trompiz wasn't one of the big names at the MLB showcase in the Dominican Republic in February, but he flourished in games there, going 3-for-3 with three walks and a stolen base. A 16-year-old from Maracaibo who trains with Emiro Barboza, Trompiz is 6-foot-1, 160 pounds and doesn't have any spectacular tools, but he should be able to command a low to mid six-figure bonus. Scouts have some concerns about his bat speed from the right side, but he's shown he can work the count with a solid approach and hitting instincts. He's around an average runner and a solid fielder, though his 45 arm may fit better at second base. The Astros, who signed Venezuelan shortstop Arturo Michelena last year from Barboza, are believed to be showing interest in Trompiz.

On Tavarez:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix Francisco
“We have scouted Tavarez for some time and feel he has developed quickly in recent months. He’s a good receiver who can throw well and his bat continues to impress our scouts.”

RHP Joselo Pinales

Quote:
Originally Posted by DPL
Joselo delivers from a 3/4 arm slot and has plus arm strength, his velocity was consistently clocked at 89-92mph during DPL games, his Curve-ball has a chance to be a plus pitch with tight rotation and bite. Pinales throws a deceptive Change-up with good command and throws it for strikes.

LHP Junior Garcia

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Badler
At 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, Garcia is a strike-thrower who has seen his fastball climb from 83-85 mph to 86-88 mph as he's gained weight. He stands out for his pitchability, mixes in a curveball that has a chance to be an average to solid-average pitch as well as an occasional changeup.

C Oliver Toribio

Quote:
Originally Posted by DPL
Oliver isn’t a stand out prospect with plus tools but his make-up is off the charts and has solid catching ability. Although stocky he’s a flexible athlete with instincts and quick reflexes. He frames the strike zone well and possess average arm strength, blocking and receiving skills. Offensively he has a sound approach and stays inside and can drive the ball gap to gap with occasional power.

1B Connor MacDonald

According to the article, he'll be finishing school before reporting to the Astros. He's already 6'5" at 16/17 years old!

Quote:
“Connor is a young, developing baseball player who has a lot of projectable tools and especially a very strong bat. His father Ken played in the old ABL with the Brisbane Bandits and was a decent sized player and we believe Connor will grow to at least that size” explained Greg Morriss, Australian International Scout for the Houston Astros.

Bonuses:
Payano: reportedly $500K
Trompiz: $300K
Garcia: $200K
Pinales: $70K
Toribio: $33K
Tavarez and MacDonald: Not known

All of the Latin players will most likely be headed off to the Academy to play the 2013 season. Payano should bring a spark to an anemic lineup.

Nice post Hammy. Pinales is especially intriguing to me at the moment, sounds like someone with a relatively complete repertoire at a young age.

I really hope the first time Correa makes a play like that in the Bigs, our broadcasters shout that out for fun. Lol.

I guess we need the 2013 version of this thread.

MLBProspectguide ranked us as the #5 system overall. (Has a breakdown on points for rating)
http://www.mlbprospectguide.com/2013/01/farm-system-rankings.html

MinorleagueBall (using points off letter rating) has us at #5 as well
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/1/2/3829866/minor-league-system-rankings-based-on-sickels-rankings

...that first one has 3B ranked as a stronger position for us than SS. I don't know what they were high on when they came up with that o_O

I'm a little surprised (in a good way) that Sickles tied us with the Texas system. That really highlights the massive improvement in just a short time.

Sickles didn't tie us with the Rangers. That list is someone else basing the rankings on Sickles top 20 letter grades. Sickles himself hasn't done a system ranking yet.

Maybe they had Dominguez and Riuz at 3rd, but also put Correa there based off speculation that he moves over? (I'm completely guessing)

Yeah, I'm not putting too much faith into that site after taking a closer look. They have Dominguez on there because he's under 25, but he no longer has rookie status. Their rankings for our system are all over the place too; Brandon Laird is not only on the list, but he's above Nitro ._.

Then again, nice to see some Michael Feliz love.

How did Dominguez loose his rookie status?

I see you're appealing to me as you know that NO ONE ranks above Nitro.

Was just posting cause I thought it was interesting. Never claim the validity of the sources

BORTAZ BLASTER!!!!!

In all seriousness though: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp

""A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).""

I think the "season or seasons" part is the key. He has 154 ABs in the Majors total between 2011 and 2012. Unless I'm interpreting it wrong, I believe that means he's lost it.

Some one out there correct me if I'm wrong.

No problem. I shouldn't criticize them too badly, it's really hard to pull together a list when the system in question is deep. I'm agonizing on how to rank Grossman, Perez and Fontana in relation to each other right now for my 2013 MiLB tracker thread.

No I think you are correct. I had read an article about Trout's rookie status last year and it referred to the days on roster and the confusion revolving around that issue. The article went on to say that since he did not have the at bats in that season he kept his rookie status. No reference was made to the cumulative part. Guess I should of looked it up before asking.

How did Dominguez loose his rookie status?
==========

When his career major league AB's went above 130.

Yeah I figured that out with Ash's link. The article that I remembered reading on the subject was about the controversy over Trout's status last year. The controversy was over his days on the active roster before roster expansion. In the article they said that he had not accumulated more than the 130 abs in the season so that was not a consideration. I read into it that the abs had to be in a season not cumulative.

$4.9 million total is a travesty. I'm as pro-capitalist as anyone, but what the owners did and the players union allowed them to do with capping international spending is just terrible. Guys who are just as talented as US-born prospects get peanuts in comparison to those that go through the Rule 4 draft.

I think the International guys get a far better deal than their US counterparts. Most of the International signees would be ineligible for the Rule 4 draft because they are not old enough. About 1/4 of the MiLB players are foreign born so their pool money is better allocated then the US players. From a capitalist standpoint, both sets of guys took it in the 6 by greedy owners and union members.

Ash you are right that the amount of money individual guys get is wrong compared to what rule 4 guys get and I am sure it will go up. But the premise of making it to where teams like the Yankees just buy up all the talent and a team like Pittsburgh gets to look at the bottom of the barrel.