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Phillies still fishing for successful Cuban signing

Benny Looper, the Phillies' assistant general manager in charge of player personnel, tells an interesting story from his younger days about a solid major-league player he once scouted but could not sign.

Benny Looper, the Phillies' assistant general manager in charge of player personnel, tells an interesting story from his younger days about a solid major-league player he once scouted but could not sign.

Danny Doyle, the late Boston Red Sox scout who signed Roger Clemens, was watching the player in question and listening to Looper talk about his scouting prowess.

"Son," Doyle told his fellow Oklahoman, "unless you sign 'em, it don't mean nothing."

Looper recounted that story in the midst of a conversation about how his current team has pursued some of the Cuban defectors who have signed huge big-league contracts in recent years.

He admitted that the only way to accelerate the painful rebuilding process the Phillies figure to be trapped in for the foreseeable future is to sign some of those Cuban players who can immediately help a major-league team.

"We've tried to be aggressive in the Cuban market," Looper said. "We were in on [Jorge] Soler."

That's when he stopped and told the story about Doyle.

Regardless of which Cubans the Phillies pursued, the only one they signed was pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, and to this point, that has been a disaster.

"We haven't given up on him," Looper said. "He's rehabbing. A few of our better scouts were all very impressed by him. We weren't the only ones who liked him."

That may all be true, but there was an organizational divide when Gonzalez's medical examination revealed some arm problems in July 2013. The Phillies decided to sign Gonzalez anyway, reducing what had been reported as a three-year deal worth $49 million to a three-year deal worth $12 million. The pitcher has posted a 6.75 ERA in six big-league appearances and was placed on waivers and went unclaimed near the end of spring training. He has not pitched at any level this season because of shoulder inflammation.

Soler (Chicago Cubs), Aroldis Chapman (Cincinnati), Yoenis Cespedes (Oakland), and Yasiel Puig (Los Angeles Dodgers) were the most high-profile Cuban signings before the Phillies dipped their toes in on Gonzalez. Since then, there have been others (Yoan Moncada and Rusney Castillo to Boston, Jose Abreu to the Chicago White Sox, Hector Olivera to the Dodgers, and Yasmany Tomas to Arizona).

Looper said the Phillies have not been scared off the Cuban market by Gonzalez and he believes they will eventually sign one of the potential stars from the island nation that recently normalized relations with the United States. Pat Gillick agreed.

"Money is not a problem," the Phillies president said. "If we find the right player and the right individual, we're going to jump on it and proceed. Up to this point, we've been in on two or three guys - position players - and haven't got them."

When the international signing period begins Thursday, the Phillies' most significant signing is expected to be a player from the Dominican Republic rather than Cuba. They are set to pay $4 million to Jhailyn Ortiz, a 16-year-old outfielder who projects as a righthanded power bat.

Ortiz is ranked 18th among international players by Baseball America.

Gillick insists money is not an issue, but the Phillies missed out on some opportunities to stockpile international players without being penalized by the bonus-pool rules that were implemented in 2013.

According to Baseball America, the Phillies spent $1.49 million on international signings in 2010 and $2.05 million in 2011. Those numbers ranked 21st and 17th, respectively. Some notable big-market teams ranked lower - the Dodgers, Angels, and Giants among them - but it is a fact that the Phillies decided to shift their finances to the big-league payroll during that time.

Now, they are part of a slotted bonus-pool system that has made the international market more competitive than ever. Teams like the Yankees, Rangers, and Red Sox have been willing to greatly exceed the international bonus pools and accept the penalties involved in recent years. That's a sound idea if you sign the right players, but a bad one if you do not.

President-in-waiting Andy MacPhail will discover in the next three months that the Phillies have a very capable man in charge of their international scouting operations. Sal Agostinelli has made the most of his budget over the years. It could be argued that the two most exciting position players on a talent-deprived roster are third baseman Maikel Franco from the Dominican Republic and second baseman Cesar Hernandez from Venezuela. Those two were signed for a combined $149,000.

Agostinelli said he is excited about the direction of the Phillies' international program.

"I really believe we have a lot of players coming through," he said before naming Jose Pujols, Carlos Tocci, and Malquin Canelo.

The Phillies are one of only four teams with an academy in Venezuela, which is a positive at a time when the talent-rich country is becoming more dangerous and difficult to visit.

But when you are signing 16-year-olds, the risk is high and a lot of patience is required. The only way to accelerate a rebuilding project on the international market is by signing established players from places like Cuba and Japan. The Phillies insist they will do that if and when the time and player are right.

Until they actually do, their word "don't mean nothing."

@brookob