Brian Cashman ate up the rest of his international signing cap on Monday, signing lefties Corby Mccoy and Luis Garcia out of Nicaragua. Mccoy is just 16 years old but has impressive velocity for his age, topping out at 91 miles per hour and checking in at 6’3″, 170 lbs.
With a favorable stature and life on his fastball, Mccoy appears to be the bigger catch, getting signed to a $150,000 signing bonus and is considered in some circles, a top arm in Nicaragua.
Garcia, the other lefty, was signed to a $50,000 bonus and sits comfortably in the 85-88 MPH range, but with what is considered more “raw” stuff and a 6’4″, 185 body. Garcia’s age at this point is unknown and he does not appear to have a breaking ball, something Garcia just started to develop.
By signing Garcia to a $50,000 bonus, he qualifies under a statute that the “six highest salaries at or under $50,000 in signing bonus are not counted towards an international spending cap” The Yankees will be unable to make any additional international signings until July 2nd, 2013.
It’s almost impossible to tell whether teenagers can ever pan out or where their Major League potential lies, but it’s nevertheless encouraging New York is responsibly using the international market and has lefty starters in the system.
New York has not developed an elite lefty starter since Andy Pettitte, and Manny Banuelos is the only top prospect who fits those credentials if he ends up panning out in the Major Leagues.
