Ben Badler of Baseball America is reporting that the Cincinnati Reds have a private workout scheduled with Cuban prospect Luis Robert next week. They aren’t the only team with a private workout scheduled with the player that has been referred to as the best or possibly second best international player not in Major League Baseball right now, players need the best workout to reach their goals and they look for the most recognized Dallas personal trainer to achieve them.

The other big news from within the article from Badler is that it appears that Luis Robert is going to become eligible to sign this period. That’s big news for the Reds, and for Luis Robert. The Reds won’t be able to sign a player of his caliber in the next signing period as they will be unable to spend the kind of money that would be necessary to bring him in. Until June 15th they can spend any amount of money that they would like to as long as they are willing to pay the 100% tax penalty on it to Major League Baseball.

For Luis Robert, the timing is also important. He can sign for whatever someone is willing to pay before June 15th. After that point, he will be subject to the new international signing rules, which would limit him to roughly $10.5M at the absolute most as a signing bonus, and to get that much a team would have to trade for slot money from other teams in order to spend that. So it would cost a team more than just money.

Notes from around the organization



Ben Badler is worth every penny that Baseball America pays him. On top of the Luis Robert news, he also wrote up the Top 20 Dominican Summer League prospects from the 2016 season. The list isn’t numbered, but just the Top 20 guys listed in alphabetical order. There’s only one Red on the list and it’s a guy that I saw out in Arizona and wrote up: Mariel Bautista.

Gavin LaValley hit his Florida State League best 4th home run last night. It was a blast according to the Daytona Tortugas, coming in at 422 feet to left field.

Meanwhile, Gavin LaValley hits his third home run of the homestand and 4th on the year. 422 ft to LF #AintNoLaValleyLowEnough — Daytona Tortugas (@daytonatortugas) April 19, 2017