The Pittsburgh Pirates signed their top international target from this year’s July 2nd class on Tuesday. Outfielder Jean Eusebio was signed along with 21-year-old right-handed pitcher Osvaldo Bido. No bonus info was announced and we are waiting to hear back from the Pirates confirming the details. Eusebio was identified by Baseball America’s Ben Badler as a target for the Pirates, though as we pointed out in this June 29th article, he wasn’t eligible to sign until his 16th birthday, which was on August 22nd. That article also has seven video clips of Eusebio to check out.
Eusebio is a left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing outfielder, who has grown slightly since that June 29th post. I actually guessed in that article linked up top that he would, though it’s not saying much to think a 15-year-old isn’t done growing. Eusebio went from 6’0″, 160 to 6’1″, 170 pounds, with plenty of room to fill out his frame and add power.
The pitcher Osvaldo Bido is listed at 6’3″, 175 pounds and he is from the Dominican.
The Pirates have now signed 21 international players since July 2nd. Eusebio will likely be the highest priced signing, surpassing the $170,000 bonus given to 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Pedro Castillo on July 2nd.
UPDATE: I talked to Eusebio and he said he received a $550,000 bonus, which would be the highest the Pirates have handed out since Michael and Julio de la Cruz received $700,000 in 2012, and the eighth highest ever. They will likely surpass that next year with a $5.75 M bonus pool, but he received over 25% of their pool from this signing period.
Over the winter in the Dominican, Eusebio hit .314/.464/.462 in 45 games playing in a prospect league made up mostly of 16-18-year-old players. Eusebio played center field and participated in more games than anyone else.
I like that batting line for Eusebio, and I like the build, too, especially since he’s still young enough to keep growing.
Bido at 6’3″ 175 might blow away in a firm breeze. I was a twig at 5’11”, 175 (more than a decade ago). He’s got to be a rail.
About time they got this done. Looks like the Banana peeled the Pirates by not allowing him to sign until he got the dough he wanted. Wonder who the Pirates will get from banana next year as its top international signing. With the extra money the Pirates will have they should try to sign someone not from the Banana plantation for a change. If they go back to him he will hold them up a bunch.
Would it be appropriate to assume that the Pirates’ lack of participation in the international market in the preceding years was due to the broken bonus system? (incentive for deep pocket teams to make massive single year expenditures, thus inflating the price for the top talent in the market?) Is there any indication that the Pirates plan to spend most if not all of their bonus allotment?
The Pirates were unwilling to go over their bonus pool allotment, which would have prevented a signing like Eusebio this year and given them $5.75 M to spend next year, without the ability to go over $300.000 on any one player. Their plan to stick to the budget ended up working out. Some teams have extra money to spend next year and they have to shop in the bargain basement because they decided to go over their bonus pool and pay a large tax on their overage cost. There is no indication of who the Pirates will sign in the upcoming July 2nd signing period yet.
Does this signing count towards their 5.75M bonus pool? Or if you could redirect to a decent primer on how the international market is structured, that would be appreciated.
Signing pools run from July 2nd until June 15th the following year. No signings are allowed for 17 days while MLB does paperwork for overage tax purposes. So the $5.75 M they have to spend will be good during the next signing period and it’s now a hard cap. The link above “21 signings” has the breakdown of the known bonus amounts, but the unknown players at this point probably take a majority of what is left in the pool.
Any other specific questions, just ask. I’ll check back
Thank you that makes sense. I’m excited to see how the Pirates operate in the more structured international signing market. With it being just as important as the draft for prospect additions, it was discouraging to see them ignore the top of the class each year.
Starling Marte II ?
Are bonuses like these paid out over several years? And does the organization build in time for a 16 year-old to further his education? It’s obviously a nice payday, and some won’t see another one like it for the rest of their working days.
Large bonuses are broken up depending on the amount. He will probably get half now, then two payments of the rest. Larger bonuses can be paid out over three years. Small bonuses are paid after a certain time. The players do go to classes and they even have a graduation ceremony, usually with an MLB player and/or someone like Clint Hurdle in attendance to talk to the players.
Michael and Julio de la Cruz received $700,000 in 2012, and the eighth highest ever? how are these guys doing?
They haven’t been cut yet is the best thing I can say. Both will probably play short-season ball this year unless they make some improvements soon.
Bargain basement philosophy has been so successful, so why not continue with it….
Careful, not everyone brings an umbrella to a parade
Picking up where Bruce Humbert left off?
Almost but he would need to include an insult for P2s lack of originality on articles or any other of his 1000s of doom and gloom statements. I will gladly pay an extra subscription cost to have Tim ban him from the site.
This is one of many reasons I love Pirates Prospects: “I talked to Eusebio” Thank you for the hard work.
He seems like a great kid. Talked for about an hour. His English is very good
I’m just curious where Eusebio ranks amongst the Top International Prospects?
Top 10, 20, 30?
He wasn’t ranked last time anyone did it back in May or June, but no idea how he would rank now after his winter performance. No one I know does updated international rankings. For Pirates in the DSL he immediately jumps to #1
BA had a top 50. He wasn’t in it.
What’s the process with these signings? Extended spring training, then Dominican Summer League?
For these players, they go to Spring Training in the Dominican, then play the season. Eusebio told me he leaves Sunday. For players who sign on July 2nd, I recommend reading this article https://www.piratesprospects.com/2016/10/high-priced-international-signing-adjusts-to-first-season-of-pro-ball.html
thanks for the reminder!
Thanks, John, that was really informative.
Good news. Seems like the Dominican produces a lot of excellent players! Hopefully the talent to be the next Marte or Polanco but obviously years away too!
Was Bido a college guy? A guy that added velocity recently?
Got no info on him yet other than birthday/place, RHP, height and weight. Probably won’t get anything until he is at the Dominican academy and I can get some reports. They had an older kid in instructs trying out who threw 95-96 MPH. I don’t know if it was him, but he fits the description I got.
Wait – a young Dominican with extreme plate patience? That’s a 140 point difference between batting average and on base percentage. Don’t see that often…
Got hit by pitch every other at bat!
Good news, are they hoping for another Yeudy Garcia with Bido?
The new standard for a late signing might be Edgar Santana soon. Junior Lopez is a similar situation pitcher to Santana and Garcia. Lopez has some potential too, just needs to be a little more controlled on the mound.
Off topic but you guys have some great stock photos of PNC Park
David Hague from David Hague Photography. No relation to Matt Hague
David Hague, The Pic Collector?
DF….if you’re a Bracket Buster, you still have time to join the PBC Asylum contest. Sign up with CBS Sports and send me an email at Leefoo@verizon.net.
No thanks, brackets aren’t my thing. But I’ll be at PBC once the season starts!
I was wondering if they actually signed this guy. Now the big question is whether the Pirates will be spending more with the new international signing bonus rules.
Good to hear they signed Eusebio. I had figured that another team had offered more bonus money and he had signed elsewhere. I hope he follows in the footsteps of Marte and Polanco.
I am talking to him right now and he said he has known for awhile he would sign with the Pirates.
Did he say why that was?
Yes, but I’d rather not say because he wasn’t 100% certain. Don’t want to put any false info out there. We can just leave it at him knowing since he was eligible to sign that he was certain that he was signing with the Pirates.
As far as the date of him signing on August 22nd or March 15th, it doesn’t make any difference for the future. Players his age sign contracts for the upcoming season. An older player, such as Yeudy Garcia when he signed, had to wait for the current season to end before he signed, which kept him from reaching Rule 5 status this year. If Garcia signed two days earlier, he would have been Rule 5 eligible this season. He waited to sign for that reason. With Eusebio, that doesn’t matter because he’s 16.
Philo Bido relation maybe??
These guys are seemingly always boom or bust. I think we’re due for a couple of booms, right?
Well this July will be different with the $5.75M bonus pool, but with a low pool, they try to find some hidden gems in their price range and hope for the best. Portorreal might be breaking out. His late season adjustment really helped and he’s still 19 years old
How is 5 mm a low pool, weren’t they spending around 2?
5 M is this July, the low pool was the last five years
What is Portorreal’s most likely destination next year?
GCL or Bristol depending on how well he does in Extended Spring Training
He has made some substantial improvements in his balance of Walk/K percentage in the DSL and the numbers even after the promotion in the GCL were not bad at all for an 18 year old in his first exposure to the US.
Check the P2 Guide – he is listed at 6’0″ 195, but described as having a “tall, skinny frame”? Checked BA and they have him at 6’3″ 195 which better fits the description.
HT/WT for players usually gets updated in their first Spring Training in the US. That includes DSL players and college players. We didn’t have the updated info before the book came out, but if the Pirates change it this year, next year’s book will reflect that. He signed on his 16th birthday, so there is bound to be a difference.