M’s Targeting Pimentel [Updated]
by Jon ~ June 16th, 2009 at 9:37 am
With the draft in the books it’s time to start gearing up for the international signing period which opens up July 2nd.
Word on the street is that the Mariners plan on doubling or even tripling their international budget this year, which should make Bob Engle a happy man. There are some very interesting names in this year’s strong international prospect crop, most notably shortstop Miguel Angel Sano.
Guillermo Pimentel seems to be 2nd or 3rd on a lot of people’s list behind Sano.
If this actually is a video of Pimentel, you can see that he’s big and well built for a 16 year old (we’ll hold off on the fraud accusations for now) and already has a nice power stroke. It looks like he opens up a little early which could lead to some plate coverage issues, but any prospect this young is going to have kinks to work out (that’s what the minor league are for, after all).
The Texas Rangers targeted Pimentel early and were the strong favorites to sign him for $1.5-2M. It looked like a done deal with some reports saying he was done working out for any other team, but it looks like the Mariners have muscled there way in there as well.
Baseball America’s Ben Badler, via Twitter:
Latest word from several ppl on Guillermo Pimentel is he’s been “on lockdown” in #Mariners academy. Rangers can’t be pleased
ESPN’s Jorge Arangure confirms this, adding that Seattle is offering around $2M as well.
Pimentel disappeared for a while and it was thought that the Rangers were hiding him from other teams. Could be the case, but it looks like the Mariners could be the culprit.
Seattle is going to be aggressive in this year’s international market and Pimetel would be a good start. There should be better available scouting reports and news as July 2nd approaches– most outlets are still weening themselves off the draft.
Update: Badler tweets 2 days later:
Sounds more and more like Dominican OF Guillermo Pimentel will be a Mariner
1 Response to M’s Targeting Pimentel [Updated]
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Lonnie
June 16th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Interesting. He uses a Mike Schmidt type of swing (a combination of a weight transfer and the hip rotational). Look at his leading leg, he strides into the pitch, and then peg-legs his leading leg and rotates on it.
I think you are right, he does open up a bit too early, but this is against soft-toss BP pitches. He really isn’t using the torque that gets generated between the hips and the shoulders (the hips rotate first followed by the shoulders and then arms). His hips and shoulders seem to be woring in unison rather than subserviently.
I’d love to see some game action footage on him. I’m willing to bet against live pitching his mechanics are a bit different (hopefully, better).
Lonnie