00:00What's up Tigers fans, while the National Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes its newest
00:05inductees this Tuesday, a much bigger moment for us is looming about 3 years away, that's
00:10when Miguel Cabrera becomes eligible for Hall of Fame voting following the 2028 season,
00:15barring unforeseen circumstances, he should be a first ballot Hall of Famer, that sets
00:20us Tigers fans, and all of Venezuela, up for a special summer trip to Cooperstown in 2029.
00:26Now interestingly, that same summer could be when the Tigers' latest group of international
00:30signings starts climbing the prospect rankings, that group includes the highly touted catcher
00:35Manuel Believer and switch-hitting shortstop Oscar Taneo, and just like Cabrera, both are
00:40from Venezuela, in fact, 9 of the 14 signings the Tigers announced in the first few days
00:45of the international signing period are from Venezuela, the others are 4 from the Dominican
00:50Republic and 1 from Colombia.
00:52These numbers feel like a flashback to about a decade ago, when Detroit had one of baseball's
00:58most active pipelines to Venezuela.
01:00You could have made a case we were the Venezuelan team, beyond acquiring Venezuela-born stars like
01:06Miguel Cabrera, Maglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillén, Anibal Sanchez, and Victor Martinez from other
01:13clubs, we had a ton of Venezuelan-born players come up through our own system, including all-stars
01:18Omar Infante, Eugenio Suarez, and Avisail Garcia.
01:24Back then, Detroit was one of the few organizations with its own academy in Venezuela.
01:29We had so much talent there that we competed not just in the Venezuelan Summer League, but
01:34also in the Winter Parallel League.
01:36Political unrest eventually shut down both the Summer League and the academy, and top
01:41amateur prospects started going to places like the Dominican Republic to get evaluated.
01:46The Tigers kept scouting heavily in Venezuela.
01:49But it was tough to repeat that past success, the pipeline to Comerica Park just didn't have
01:54the same flow, even as the team rebuilt its farm system.
01:57Last year, the only Venezuelan-born players to make meaningful contributions were free agent
02:02signing, Gleyber, Torres, and right-hander Keiter Montero, who was a $40,000 signing back
02:09in 2016, but lately, we've seen a resurgence three years ago, the Tigers made 13 signings
02:15from Venezuela, and in this most recent period, we're back to a heavy focus.
02:20Right now, four prospects on MLB Pipeline's Tigers' top 30 list are from Venezuela.
02:27Slugging catcher first baseman Josue Brecheño, an $800,000 signing in 2022 from Cabrera's hometown
02:33of Maracay, is even on MLB Pipeline's top 100 list.
02:39Another catcher first baseman, Eduardo Valencia, was just added to the 40-man roster after a
02:45breakout summer at AAA Toledo, that's incredible for a guy who was a $10,000 signing in 2018,
02:52both could be in the big leagues within a year or two.
02:55Right-hander Kelvis Salcedo, a $70,000 signing from 2023, cracked the top 30 after a dominant
03:022025 with 85 strikeouts over 68.2 innings, thanks to an upper-90s fastball and slider.
03:10And Franja Bermontilla, a $500,000 signing in 2022, is a speedy switch-hitting infielder
03:16who could rise quickly with a bit more impact at the plate.
03:19Even with recent political turmoil in Venezuela creating some uncertainty, it didn't really
03:25impact this signing period.
03:27Last week's signings were, like most years, the result of years of scouting and building
03:32relationships.
03:33The team's vice president and assistant GM, Rob Metzler, said last week,
03:38I would just highlight how happy I am with our staff in Venezuela.
03:43Our staff, the foundation of their job is to evaluate talent.
03:46They do an unbelievable job there, but they're incredibly caring and capable, and their attention
03:52to detail is great.
03:54So, with any luck, by the time Miggy dons the old English D for his Hall of Fame induction,
03:59the Detroit Tigers could have another strong Venezuelan core making waves in the majors.
04:04What do you think?
04:05Are we on the verge of re-establishing that historic pipeline?
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