Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated is reports that the Arizona Diamondbacks have signed Dominican OF Socrates Brito. The 17-year-old, left-handed hitting Brito will reportedly receive a six-figure contract from the club.
The contract will also includes a scholarship allowing Brito to continue his education. The contract is uncharacteristically large from a Diamondbacks perspective, but the team felt confident based upon the scouting reports they received from its Latin American operations.
Besides Brito, the Diamondbacks also offered a contract to 18-year-old shortstop, Edward Salcedo, who has been compared by some to New York Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez. They appear to have lost out on him when their $1 million offer was topped by the Atlanta Braves.
Both players were highly recommended after being heavily scouted by Junior Noboa, and his staff at the Diamondbacks' Dominican Academy. Arizona's had success finding talent in Latin America as a result of player development and evaluations done by Noboa, and his staff.
There are few other details on Brito, but he's expected to have good power numbers and some scouts believe he could quickly advance through the Diamondbacks' farm system with good plate discipline.
Personally, I applaud the Diamondbacks for including a scholarship with the contract. It's important for these young ball players to have an opportunity at a higher education for when their playing days are over. I only wish more minor league contracts contained an education clause.
With a name like Socrates, the kid is almost expected to have a college education. No word on whether he'll be studying philosophy. The only thing that might have made this better would have been if he were a catcher. I would have loved to say he was working behind the "plate-o."
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