We Have Our First July 2 Name!

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There has been a lot of smoke that the Phillies are expected to blow away their July 2 spending pool.  In his article today, Kiley McDaniel laid out the five players he expects to get the largest bonuses this July.  The Phillies have just over $3 million to spend this period, but can trade for up to half that amount so their max bonus pool is $4.5 million.

The name Kiley linked to the Phillies is left fielder Jhailyn Ortiz who comes in at a hulking 6’2″ 260lbs.  Ortiz has enormous raw power (Kiley put a 70 on it).  He is also fairly athletic given his size and you can see in Kiley’s video below that he runs fairly well.  There are some approach and pitch recognition issues, but he is also only 16 and has been playing in showcases and workouts, not games.

The rumored bonus is said to be at least $4.2 million according to Kiley, but prices seem to keep rising.  This alone won’t push the Phillies over the edge (if they acquire more slots), but given that they passed on Moncada and others to be able to sign players it is very unlikely that Ortiz is their only target.

On that note it is time to be irrationally excited.

18 thoughts on “We Have Our First July 2 Name!”

  2. Somehow getting excited again over another ‘hot’ LA talent is wearing on me.
    Three years ago it started with Cespedes and Soler, then Puig, but we did get MAG and he may still turn out well. This year it has been Tomas and Moncada, and was more of the past roller-coaster excitement to come to a lackluster stop.
    Perhap Ortiz will be the exclamation point.
    Now Tomas was 24-years old and approx 235/240 lbs, and was considered not in the best of shape, hopefully a 16-year old at 260 lbs will prove to live up to his athleticism.

    • To be frank, I was hoping Starling Heredia would have been the name associated with the Phillies. outstanding CFer with an explosive bat. But also very pricey.

  3. Wow, this guy has some power but he really is gonna be firstbase men and nothing else and having nothing but raw power at this age makes me nervous, I think Id be more excited if he were gonna be playing for the eagles in 5 years but, I have been wrong before, hopefully I am wrong again and the phillies sign him and he mashes 50 every year

  4. I got Lorenzo Verde when I plugged Larry Greene into Google translator. I’m sure a boatload of cash will cement this doughy 10th grader’s work ethic going forward. I’m juiced to see what kind of results Johnny Almaraz can come up with having the reigns overall in a scouting department, but I’d rather see him bring in a half a dozen guys, rather than one really expensive future McFadden’s bouncer.

    • Agreed. I don’t want names so much as I want numbers. Tell me we’re going Yankees and signing five of the top 25. I’ll worry about which 5 later on.

  5. Ain’t nothing wrong with a good quality first baseman! Maybe this kid turns into one of the following:

    Lou Gehrig
    Jimmie Foxx
    Eddie Murray
    Albert Pujols
    Hank Greenberg
    Harmon Killebrew

    I think the short of the story is, I don’t much care which position our players can field as long as they can do so well and are top 15 players at the plate. It’s not like we have a dearth of quality 1B players just waiting in the minors for a chance! Imagine, he ends his career with 600 HR’s and a .300 BA. Will we even care that he was fat? Just sayin’ 🙂

    #Feelin’Optimistic

    • All those names are great but I bet not one of them was 6’2″ and approaching 3 bills at the tender age of 16, kinda reminds me of Prince Fielder who would be awesome, but it just makes me worry about what this guy is gonna look like after somebody hands him 4 million plus dollars at the very responsible age of 16, Id rather see a disciplined fit and fast athlete who plays on both sides of the field, but that is just mine

      but you have swayed me some, I suppose the phillies should sign him first before I really care though
      #feeling kinda optimistic

      • he’s young….the food is horrible in cuba and he’s going to be working with professional trainers when he joins the phillies….

        • the food is horrible in Cuba ?, you ever been , they arent pumped with hormones and partially hydrogenated fat people food and this kid is still huge , so I dont buy that argument for one minute , the part of your argument I do like is he will be with professional trainers , oh wait , that is all this kid has probably done since he was like 11, and lest we forget the russians used to whoop are A$$ in feats of strength for years until we copied there routines and Im sure Cuba borrowed there techniques as well, ever seen a kettle bell. but I do like the fact he will be with the phillies and they have done so much for players like packing the muscle on Tocci , yeah oh wait , anyway I do believe that his diet will be better regimented here and as he matures he should really be able to decide if he wants it bad enough to start being more disciplined

      • While true, I’d like to point out… In the immortal words of John Kruk (which could have easily applied to Babe Ruth), “Athlete? Lady I ain’t an athlete, I’m a baseball player!”

        #jump-on-the-optimism-train

        🙂

  6. His weight doesn’t bother me as much of the reports that he has approach and pitch recognition issues. I have had enough raw power no hit tool prospects.

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