Seven perfect fits for Lazaro Armenteros
St. Louis Cardinals
Everything points to the St. Louis Cardinals being huge players at the upcoming July 2 international signing period. While there is no public knowledge of their interest in the Cuban phenom at the moment, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch says that the Cardinals are without a doubt hot on the trail of Kevin Maitan, the Venezuealan prospect we talked about earlier.
This means that the Cardinals are undoubtedly going to go over their international bonus pool. Comments regarding the Cardinals making a big splash this offseason went without justification, as the team whiffed on David Price and Jason Heyward, making the only significant signing being their inking of Mike Leake.
This was largely due to the market and the team’s remaining players, but the Cardinals have many reasons to go after an amateur free agent like Lazarito. The Cardinals currently lack a flashy dynamic prospect in their system like Lazarito, so adding him would be a huge gain for the Cardinals.
However, if Lazarito prefers to sign with a team before the beginning of the season, you can count the Cardinals out. The Cardinals value Maitan way too much, and according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler, they have their eyes set on two prospects who are likely to sign during the July 2 international period.
Badler also mentions that an addition like Lazarito could come at a time when the Cardinals are preparing to potentially see a loss of draft picks because of the hacking scandal involving former Scouting Director Chris Correa, making their likelihood to sign internationally greater.
Next: The Big Spenders