San Francisco Giants Sign International Free Agent Lucius Fox
Scouting in baseball never ends. Less than a month after the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, teams are now free to sign international free agents. The San Francisco Giants have made their splash, signing shortstop Lucius Fox, and no, that’s not the Lucius Fox from Batman. According to Hank Schulman from the San Francisco Chronicle, Fox signed for a $6 million signing bonus, the largest the Giants ever given to an international free agent.
The Giants emerged as front runners to sign international free agent Lucius Fox, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez after The Los Angeles Dodgers were once considered the favorites to land the young shortstop. Just as they hope to do in the standings later in the season, the Giants moved ahead of the Dodgers to take the lead in this race.
Today, July 2nd, is a big day for Fox. He will get a nice birthday present, as he turns 18 years old on the same day international free agent signing period begins. Though still a tyke, Fox is a highly intriguing prospect.
Fox is ranked as the number three international prospect by MLB.com, and the fourth-best on Baseball America’s Ben Badler’s list. FanGraph’s Kiley McDaniels, who also has Fox listed as the third-best prospect, projected his signing bonus to be around $6.5 million, a little less than what he is reportedly getting.
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Fox has had a bit of an unusual journey to free agency. He was born in Nassau, Bahamas, but attended American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida. After his tenure in school ended, he returned to the Bahamas, and petitioned Major League Baseball to exclude him from the Amateur Draft, and allow him to become a free agent instead. MLB honored his request, and he is now available to sign with any team.
The Bahamian is a switch-hitter, and primarily plays shortstop. He’s long and lanky, like a lot of athletes around his age, standing at 6’2″, and weighing about 170 pounds. Some outlets have called him a five-tool prospect, but he doesn’t hit for much power, so he seems like more of a four-tool player, at present time, at least.
Fox is known for his outstanding ability to make contact. He is a line-drive hitter, and can spray the ball to all fields. His speed is his best asset, and combined with his knack for making contact he could be well-suited near the top of a lineup. He is also considered a plus defender with good range. Fox has been called “advanced”, as he played against very good competition in the United States.
Here is a short video showing Fox in the field and at the plate in practice, courtesy of FanGraphs.
Badler, in his profile of Fox, alluded to the possibility that Fox could eventually move to the outfield, becoming a center fielder. If that happens, Fox could unseat another international signing, Daniel Carbonell, as the team’s top center field prospect.
Carbonell was signed in 2014, and made his organizational debut the same year. He enjoyed a solid 31 games in 2014, split between the Rookie League and High-A ball, hitting .336 with 13 extra-base hits, 16 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases.
This season, Carbonell was pushed to Double-A, and struggled mightily in 56 games before being demoted back to Advanced-A. He posted a .146/.173/.194 slash-line, and had just four extra-base hits while striking out at a high rate with Richmond. Since returning to San Jose, Carbonell is hitting .318, and striking out less.
If Fox is as advanced as reports say he is, he could feasibly be at the same Minor League level as Carbonell very soon.
After a solid draft, signing Fox is another strong boost to a farm system that is still, despite evidence to the contrary, considered very weak. Adding Fox makes the system stronger, and gives the Giants more outfield depth for the future.