Adonis Cardona

Well, I tried and I tied and I tried to get everyone some information on pitcher Adonis Cardona but only got the basics. He’s a 17-year old Veneuelan who the Jays scouted and obviously liked quite a bit. Although the signing can’t be official until July 2nd and it could still fall through, this does seem to be yet another big talent addition by Jays management.

How do I know he’s a big talent? Well, the Jays spent $750,000 to sign Gustavio Pierre, and spent the same amount on Santiago Nessy. If the figure reported on MLBTR of $2.8 million is correct, this will be the biggest international pitching signing the Jays have ever completed and will be yet another sign of their aggressiveness in getting in-house talent developed instead of relying on trades and Free Agency.

I am a huge fan of these deals, but I have to reserve my enthuisiasm for Adonis until he actually pitches in the U.S. As Michael Ynoa has proven, it can take a while for that to happen sometimes when injuries and other issues occur. However, I do expect that if the Jays liked this guy enough to spend $2.8 million on him, that he’ll be sent to the GCL within the next year or so. Therefore, it shouldn’t be long before we get a glimpse of what kind of arm the new Jays management deems worthy of 7 figures before they reach 18 years of age. He’ll get all of the time he needs to develop as he sits well behind the likes of Henderson Alvarez, Kyle Drabek, and Chad Jenkins. The future of the rotation is getting brighter with every SP prospect acquisition, and Adonis should fit right in – so long as the new Jays scouts are as good as expected!