Photo Credit @WBCBaseball

Eric Pardinho is setting the scouting world ablaze with his performance for his native Brazil, in the WBC qualifying games in Brooklyn. Being an amateur with a 94 MPH fastball gets noticed, doing so at the age of 15 turns everyone’s head. Scouts can project growth from his 5’9” 165 pounds frame, and with it a few more digits on the radar gun.

In an article by Vinicius Veiga for Segunda base, teams are already doing their homework on the player who doesn’t turn 16 until January. Vinicius goes on to quote Eric’s father regarding the interest;

“Há várias equipes de olho em Eric, e Evandro citou San Diego Padres, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants,  Cincinnati Reds e Boston Red Sox como times que já enviaram olheiros especiais para analisar o talento do garoto.”

Rough translation, (so please excuse my lack of quotes): there are multiple teams interested in Eric; The Padres, Mets and Giants as well as the Reds, and Red Sox have sent scouts to get a first hand look at the young phenom.

His secondary offering is said to be a potentially plus curveball. He has been making a name for himself on the international market for the last few years. Earlier this year in the under-16 Pan-American Baseball Championship he struck out 12 against the heavily scouted Dominican Republic team.

That the Mets are even scouting him is an interesting development in itself. The organization, (not just this front office) has long shied away from pitchers on the high end of the international free agent market. Where the road to the majors is very long and filled with many potholes. Add in the inherent risk of injury to pitchers, and the risk is magnified that much more. For anyone keeping track, Juan Urbina was the organization’s last major expenditure on IFA pitching, and the only pitcher to ever receive a seven figure deal.

Pardinho who was initially leaning towards signing in Japan (where he has ties, and excelled and homered, in a tournament in 2013) It appears as though that plan has been diverted to the US. By my account he should be able to sign in January, well within this the 2016-2017 IFA signing period. Though his camp seems to be under the impression that he must wait until July.

“Pela lei (da MLB para free agents internacionais), só pode assinar contrato a partir de julho do ano que vem.”  ~ By law (MLB International Free Agents) he isn’t eligible to sign a contract, until July of next year. 

The Padres, already well beyond the bonus pool allotment, are seemingly poised to jump. Though the Mets have been surprising us all in recent years and their interest should not be discounted. With IFA signings surely to be a topic addressed within the next CBA, this will definitely be a situation worth monitoring.