62.15 Blazers Cornering the Market on Southpaw Catching Prospects

[Bob Breum]

Montreal announced the signing today of 17-year-old Youp Heesen out of the Netherlands. He received a $660,000 signing bonus. Scouts project his bat as decent but unremarkable. Heesen's catching skills are average at best with a below average arm. But the appeal of a left-handed hitting catcher is a powerful lure that the Blazers seem unable to resist.

Youp Heesen
Heesen makes the third left-handed catching prospect in the organization among the team's Top 30, joining 21-year-old Jim Garrick, last season's third round selection in the amateur draft, and 24-year-old Qaseem Kahil, who arrived in trade from San Fernando during the offseason.

In addition, the Blazers recently traded with Louisville for 20-year-old John Chitwood, who bats right-handed but favors hitting off right-handed pitching.

The Blazers were also in on Yazeed Latif, arguably the top left-handed catching prospect, but lost out to division rival Charm City, who paid him a $1,850,000 signing bonus.

[Jwalk100]

Damn, my offer was a little light.

[BaseClogger]

That successful dev lab program looks good on Kahil. I go back and forth regretting that one. Ultimately it’s a classic case of “who else could I have traded?”