Brewers establish presence in Dominican

Jim Breen — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:12:31 GMT

The Milwaukee Brewers have officially signed OF Jose Pena and RHP Jean Capellan to minor-league deals that featured rather large bonuses.

Pena received a $400K bonus, which is significantly less than what had been reported earlier this week. Pena reportedly reminds scouts of Jermaine Dye, which is obviously a positive make-up.

"He's a great 'make-up' kid," Seid said. "He's someone who looks you in the eye and takes instruction well. Overall, the package is good in terms of ability, power, athleticism and make-up."

Capellan is a lesser-known prospect, but Bruce Seid and the scouting department seem to be rather excited about the kid. He is a 17-year old right-hander who has been clocked up to 92-93 MPH and has a very sharp breaking ball.

"He has an aggressive mound presence," Seid said. "I liked what I saw from him. He wasn't considered a top-tier prospect, but to our organization he's got potential to do something from a pitching standpoint."

It is interesting that a 17-year old kid who throws 90+ MPH is not considered a top-tier prospect. Most young pitchers with the velocity at least require a six-figure bonus, but Adam McCalvy writes that it is only a five-figure bonus. I hate to be skeptical of a young man who has not thrown a professional pitch in his life, but I am guessing that he has serious command issues. Still, a live-arm on the cheap is a big victory for the Brewers in the Dominican Republic.

Jose Pena is the treasure of this year's international crop for the Brewers. Do not expect Bruce Seid to land any higher profile guys in the next month, which is fine. From all accounts I have read, Pena appears to be quite the steal for Milwaukee -- especially for the price.

Both Capellan and Pena will begin their professional career at the new Brewers facility in the Dominican Republic. We had heard rumblings that the Brewers were discussing the possiblity of opening a new facility in the DR, and the organization quietly co-opted a facility with the Baltimore Orioles this season.

This is great news for the Brewers' organization. The young international prospects in the Arizona League have not been flourishing as the organization had hoped, so it was time for a new strategy. A new facility (I wonder if the talks with Salomon Torres helped speed this up) should increase Milwaukee's visibility to the Latin American prospects, which could lead to more high-profile Dominican prospects. This may not seem like much, but the organization could benefit greatly from this move in several years.

Milwaukee Brewers Blog - Bernie's Crew : Jose Pena

Brewers establish presence in Dominican