The San Francisco Giants are all too familiar with the amount of risk that comes with a hype international free-agent signing.
Angel Villalona, Rafael Rodriguez, and Gustavo Cabrera were all supposed to be mainstays in the middle of the Giants order after joining the organization as hot-shot international prospects. They played a combined zero games at the MLB level.
The Giants poached Lucius Fox from under the rival Los Angeles Dodgers noses in 2015. He still looks like a potential up-the middle-contributor, but he’s in the Tampa Bay Rays system now after he was sent out in the fateful Matt Moore trade.