Jays' Osuna inks deal with Jalisco, to report Friday

With a month remaining in the regular season, Mexican Pacific League teams are beginning to load up their rosters for the stretch drive and the January playoffs.  It's a longstanding tradition in the MexPac and the Jalisco Charros are making the most of it by bringing in one of the American League's top closers this week.

Toronto Blue Jays reliever Roberto Osuna, who grew up near former LMP city Guasave, Sinaloa, has signed a contract with Jalisco for the rest of the winterball season and is expected to join the Charros by Friday this week.  Osuna's league rights were originally owned by Guasave before the Algodoneros moved to Guadalajara prior to the 2014-15 season.  He becomes the second reliever with significant MLB experience to agree to terms with the Charros this year, along with former Giants middleman Sergio Romo, a nine-year veteran who is currently a free agent.  Romo is expected to make his MexPac debut Tuesday in Mexicali.

Osuna signed with Toronto as a 16-year-old free agent for $1.5 million in 2011 after making 13 appearances out of the bullpen for the Mexican League's Mexico City Diablos Rojos that summer, going 0-1 with a 5.49 ERA.  He spent three years in the Jays system but missed significant time after suffering an elbow injury in 2013 that required Tommy john surgery and sidelined him for over a year.  After making the Jays as a non-roster spring training invitee, the 6'2" righthander made his Major League debut for Toronto at age 20 on April 8, 2015 against the New York Yankees and struck out the first batsman he faced, future Hall of Famer Alex Rodriguez.

Since then, Osuna has gone on to post 56 saves with a 2.63 earned-run average, including 36 saves for Toronto this year.  He's also pitched 14 playoff games in relief for the Jays in 2015 and 2016, winning one game and saving another in the AL Division Series against Texas this fall.  His 56 career saves are an MLB record for pitchers under 22 years old.

It's been quite a ride over the past decade for Osuna, who quite school at age 12 to help support his family by picking vegetables alongside his father Roberto Senior, who was 90-97 with a 4.07 ERA pitching in the Mexican League between 1984 to 1999 (going 37-25 in four summers with Monterrey from 1988-91).  His uncle Antonio pitched eleven years in the Majors (six with the Dodgers) before wrapping up his career in the Liga, representing the Quintana Roo Tigres at the 2007 LMB All-Star Game.

REPORT: OSUNA’S RIGHTS SOLD TO JAYS FOR $1.5 MILLION

The Puro Beisbol website is reporting the Mexico City Diablos Rojos has sold the rights to 16-year-old right-handed pitcher Roberto Osuna to the Toronto Blue Jays for US$1.5 million.

Osuna, an Hermosillo native and the nephew of former MLB pitcher Antonio Osuna, pitched 13 times for the Diablos last season, going 0-1 with a 5.43 ERA in 13 appearances, including two starts. He’s listed at 6’2” and 230 pounds, and is said to be able to hit the low to mid 90’s with his fastball.

Osuna had caught the eye of a number of major league organizations, but Toronto appeared to have the inside track for some time. Osuna will keep 25 percent of his signing bonus (US$375,000) and the rest goes to the Diablos, as is customary in Mexico. He was added to Guasave’s Mexican Pacific League roster last summer.

The sale of Osuna marks the second-highest payment for a Mexican prospect. The Pittsburgh Pirates purchased the rights to another 16-year-old hurler, Luis Heredia of Mazatlan, from the Veracruz Aguilas last year for US$3 million, with the Aguilas keeping US$2.25 million of that.

Prior to Heredia’s signing, the most paid for a young Mexican player was the US$1 million spent by the Kansas City Royals for righty Luis Cota. Unlike Osuna or Heredia, Cota signed directly with KC as a tenth-round draft pick in 2003 and spent five years in the Royals organization, going 15-26 with a 5.36 ERA in 82 starts and never climbing higher than High Desert in the Class A California League. Now 26, Cota spent time the past year working as a prison guard in Arizona.

16-YEAR-OLD PITCHER OSUNA TO SIGN WITH JAYS?

After losing out to Pittsburgh in the Luis Heredia Sweepstakes last year, the Toronto Blue Jays don’t want to let another young Mexican pitching prospect slip through their fingers. Even though they reportedly offered more money than the Pirates, Heredia’s lifelong friendship with Pittsburgh scout Jesus “Chino” Valdez was likely a deciding in his signing with the Buccos last year…that and a $3 million signing bonus (much of which went to the Veracruz Aguilas, the Mexican League team that owned the rights to Heredia).

This time, Toronto may have landed a different well-regarded 16-year-old Sinaloa pitcher in Roberto Osuna, who said he was ready to sign with the Jays (who will likely offer Heredia-like money). Unlike Heredia, who had zero professional experience before reporting to the Pirates training complex in Florida last fall, the 6’0” 198-pound Osuna (who hits the mid-90’s on the radar gun) made 13 appearances in the Mexican League this season. Although he got roughed up more than once, the nephew of former MLB pitcher Antonio Osuna pitched reasonably well most of the time, going 19.2 innings for an 0-1 record and a 5.49 ERA, not a bad number for a hitter’s league like the LMB, striking out 12 and walking 10 for Mexico City. No doubt the Diablos will get their cut no matter who signs Osuna.

The right-handed Osuna, who is ranked fourth by Baseball America's Ben Badler on a list of international prospects, reportedly is leaning toward Toronto over four other teams and has already made an appearance at the Jays complex in Florida.