Reading's Franco an international gem

It's the second and much less publicized in-season form of organization building.

In two days, the race is on for big-league clubs to sign international players, with the biggest prizes typically being 16-year-old kids from Latin American countries such as the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

That's arguably how the best position player in the Phillies' farm system joined the organization, although third baseman Maikel Franco wasn't considered one of the elite Latin American prospects when he signed for $100,000 in the fall of 2010.

"He was really slow," said Sal Agostinelli, the Phillies' director of international scouting. "Me and [Dominican Republic scout] Koby Perez loved his bat and loved his arm, but we didn't want to pay him $200,000 because he couldn't run."

Franco's lack of speed forced a lot of teams to pass on the third baseman, and even Agostinelli feared the Phillies brass would not be interested unless they thought the kid was a catcher.

"I tried to hide him behind the plate," Agostinelli said. "We had him in our academy for a couple weeks because I wanted to make sure we were right about his bat. After a week or two, we started getting some ultimatums [from the agent] and we ended up giving him $100,000 and getting the deal done."

It wasn't until assistant general manager Benny Looper and former player development director Chuck LaMar visited the Dominican Republic that Agostinelli felt comfortable putting Franco back at third base.

"When all the guys came in, I had him playing catcher," Agostinelli said. "I told them he could really swing the bat. After he was done behind the plate, I showed them he could play third. They watched him take ground balls and said, 'Why are you making this guy a catcher?' "

Agostinelli said that shortly after Yoenis Cespedes defected from Cuba, the future Oakland outfielder took batting practice alongside Franco during a workout for the Phillies.

"Franco was right there with him the whole time," Agostinelli said.

Since then, the 20-year-old Franco has rapidly ascended through the Phillies' farm system, with this being his true breakout season. He hit .299 with 23 doubles, 16 home runs, and 52 RBIs at high-A Clearwater before being promoted to double-A Reading earlier this month. Since joining the Fightin Phils, he has been scorching hot. He had a hit in each of his first nine games, batting .474 (18 for 38) with a double, two triples, and three home runs. Franco went into Saturday with a 16-game hitting streak between Clearwater and Reading.

"I thought he would be a really good hitter with power," Agostinelli said. "Every once in a while a guy ends up being what you thought he would be, and I thought he had a chance to be that guy. The thing I liked was that he always hit well in games. The only thing he can't do is run, but he can throw and hit bombs and he's going to hit in the middle of a lineup."

Mickey Morandini managed Franco at low-A Lakewood last season and said he started taking off at midseason, when his pitch selection improved. Since July 1 of last season, Franco has played at three levels - Lakewood, Clearwater, and Reading - and batted .336 (179 for 532) with 41 doubles, 5 triples, 26 home runs, and 103 RBIs.