METHOD OR MADNESS?

Owner Tom Ricketts invested millions in the Dominican Republic in order to create a pipeline of new talent into the organization. He left it to his "baseball people" to run. That means bringing in talent that can make it to the next level. Well, news from MLB this week was that two Cub Dominican camp players were suspended 50 games for failing drug tests. That is not a very good start for Camp Cubs.

Ricketts also said he wanted to instill "a Cubs Way" on how his players will play and present themselves as professionals. Again, he left it to his baseball people to implement a new Cubs way. Well, if character was part of the program, the Cubs latest international prospect signing is puzzling. 

Baseball America reports that the Cubs have signed Dominican right-hander Juan Carlos Paniagua to a contract with a $1.5 million signing bonus, which equates to 60% of next year's total international signing bonus. Under the new CBA, this one move hamstrings other international player signings for the next year.

But more troubling is the fact that his is the third time that Paniagua has signed a contract with a Major League team. In 2009, the Diamondbacks contract with him was voided due to the fact that the player presented "fraudulent documentation" including a false name. After a year suspension, the Yankees signed him but that contract which was also voided by major league baseball for fraud. 

Latin American and Caribbean players have a history of strange birth certificates, suspect documentation in order to claim they are younger (and therefore more valuable) than they really are in order to get a deal.  Paniagua lists his date of birth as April 4, 1990, the same as he did in his previous two MLB contracts. The question is whether the Cubs contract will also be voided by MLB. 

With most foreign players, information is vague. When Paniagua agreed to a $1.1 million Yankee bonus back in March, 2011, the reason for the suspension was unknown, but it turned into his second suspension after getting caught up in some identity and age fraud stuff two years earlier when he was "Juan Collado" and agreed to a $17,000 deal with the Diamondbacks in 2009. After that contract was voided, scouts reported that the pitcher apparently picked up some big time velocity (sitting 93-95 touching the high-90′s). And that is why the Yankees signed him as a power pitcher.

The Cubs stated that they are desperate for pitching so many this is a Hail Mary attempt to find a power pitcher.  But at age 22, this "prospect" needs to be as polished as a U.S. Division 1 college senior starter. There are no readily available statistics from the Dominican leagues. But Baseball America reports that Paniagua hasn't shown the same velocity he had when he signed with the Yankees—he sat at 93-95 mph at a May workout. But scouts saw an improved 81-84 mph slider  that still graded out behind his changeup. He also throws an occasional curveball, and while he was around the plate in Puerto Rico, his command and pitchability have been issues in the past.


So the Cubs signed a player who had a fraud issues with two other clubs. A player that suddenly bumped up his fastball on the radar gun to go from a $17,000 prospect signee to a $1.1 million bonus star in two years. And now, the Cubs sign him for more money than the Yankees even though his stuff has gone down and "his command and pitch ability have been issues."


We have recently read scouting reports with similar harsh words on a newly signed Cub prospect, Geraldo Concepcion, who was a multimillion dollar signee who is struggling greatly in Class A ball.
The trend for Latin bonus baby pitchers is not good for the Cubs.