Mariners Sign Young International Talent

I’m a little late on this one… but, at least I’m not the only one that it’s a behind the curve.  But, it appears that the Mariners and their ace Canadian and European scout Wayne Norton have signed another interesting prospect, Alexandre Roy, a left hander out of France.

He’s actually the fourth young player signed out of France and the second to sign with an AL West team. The Oakland Athletics signed Roy’s former Junior Championship team (U-18 National French team) battery mate Andy Paz just last year. 

A rookie last year, he was a member of the Rouen Huskies and it’s been quite tough to track down information.  There isn’t much in the way of scouting reports available so we’ll have to wait to find out more.But you can point to Norton as one of the more under-rated scouts inside the organization despite what he’s accomplished. He’s responsible for so many different young players that have infiltrated the Mariners minor league since 2004.

You can credit him with the signing of George Sherrill, the late Greg Halman, Michael Saunders, Phillippe Aumont (who was one of the three players involved in the Cliff Lee trade), and former prospect Bobby Madritsch, Kalian Sams, Dylan Unsworth and current conundrum Alex Liddi.

Based upon how the organization dealt with Jeroen de Haas, when he has brought over from the Netherlands at 17, I imagine that Roy could follow the same career path and come directly stateside, opposed to heading south for either of the summer leagues.  Best as I can currently make out he currently stands 6’1 and weights around 170 pounds.  Lots of room for projection but what that projection might be at this point is impossible to know.