Marlins ink No. 10 int'l prospect Cappe
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One of Miami’s most-anticipated international acquisitions finally came to fruition on Friday morning. The club signed shortstop Yiddi Cappe, No. 10 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 International Prospects List. According to industry sources, the deal was for $3.5 million.
"It was just more of a dream," Cappe said via an interpreter on Zoom. "As a kid being part of Miami, there in Florida [are] a lot of Cubans. The community is really big. It's just a dream. I always wanted to be a Marlin, and now I am, and it's an honor."
The Marlins also announced the signings of 10 others: left-handers Luis Baldiris (Venezuela) and Jesus Leon (Mexico); infielders Reiner Chourio (Venezuela) and Jesus Hernandez (Venezuela); outfielders Oscar Colina (Venezuela) and Kevin Guerrero (Dominican Republic); catchers Edward Duran (Venezuela) and Ronald Hernandez (Venezuela); and right-handers Gerardo Hernandez (Dominican Republic) and Jhoniel Serrano (Venezuela).
The 18-year-old Cappe began playing baseball at 4 years old in the youth leagues of Havana and switched to national competition with the team from the Artemisa province at 16. He left Cuba for the Dominican Republic in late 2018 and quickly emerged as one of the top international prospects eligible to sign during the '19-20 signing period that followed. Cappe waited until '20-21 to finally make the deal official with Miami.
"There's many memories, but my favorite one would be just going to the field close to my house with my dad and going there and practicing," Cappe said. "When I was very young, several championships that I won with the team over there in Cuba."
Tall and lean, Cappe is athletic with a projectable body. MLB Pipeline's scouting report draws comparisons to a young Carlos Correa or Derek Jeter. He has the potential to have average to plus tools across the board.
At the plate, Cappe's bat projects to be above average. He makes hard contact to all fields and has an advanced understanding of the strike zone. On defense, Cappe shows good footwork and solid hands with plus arm potential. At 6-foot-3 with a developing body, he could outgrow the position, but for now, he'll stay at shortstop.
"I consider myself an aggressive player," Cappe said. "I think I have a good bat, I can hit [to both] sides [of the field] and mostly with good defense and very aggressive running the bases. As we Cubans say, we play 'hot baseball.'"
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According to the rules established by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, clubs that receive a Competitive Balance Pick in Round B of the Rule 4 Draft -- like the Marlins -- have the most money to spend on international prospects, with a pool of $6,431,000. Clubs that receive a Competitive Balance Pick in Round A of the Rule 4 Draft receive the second most at $5,889,600.
Unlike in previous years, teams are not allowed to trade any of their international pool money. Signing bonuses of $10,000 or less do not count toward a club's bonus pool, and foreign professional players who are at least 25 years of age and have played in a foreign league for at least six seasons are also exempt.