Cuban free agent would be fascinating Philadelphia story
It's possible the most intriguing free agent to hit the open market this offseason is going to be a player who the casual baseball fan has never heard of.
Cuban free agent would be fascinating Philadelphia story
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
It's possible the most intriguing free agent to hit the open market this offseason is going to be a player who the casual baseball fan has never heard of.
Remember the name Yoenis Cespedes.
He's 26, he owns a home run record and the team that signs him will not lose any draft picks.
Cespedes is a center fielder who defected from Cuba and is expected to be declared a free agent in the next month. In several stories on various web sites, the Phillies have been mentioned as one of the teams interested in the young Cuban star, but the bidding is expected to rival the six-year, $30.25 million contract the Cincinnati Reds paid hard-throwing lefty Aroldis Chapman.
Given the fact that the Phillies have never paid more than $1.2 million for an international signing and that player -- South Korean pitcher Seung Lee -- was a failure, it seems unlikely that they'd get involved in a bidding war.
Factor in how few Cuban position players have become stars in the big leagues and it is an even riskier proposition.
The Miami Marlins, who are scheduled to move into a new ballpark next year, are expected to make a big push for Cespedes and they have the advantage of being right smack in the middle of this country's largest Cuban population. The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals have also been mentioned as teams interested in the right-handed hitting Cespedes, who owns the single-season home run record in Cuba's version of big-league baseball.
While it would be safer to sign someone like Michael Cuddyer, a versatile player with a proven big-league track record as a hitter, it would be fascinating to watch the Cespedes story unfold in Philadelphia.
High risk High reward move. Having not enough information on him I would think the Cuddyer would be a safer move. That being said sometimes the safe moves get's you to the playoffs and the risky move puts you over the top.— eaglessuperfan- It will never happen in Philadelphia. The Phillies are going to struggle to keep their salary under the luxury tax threshold, so I can't seem them throwing $5.0-5.5 million a year at an unproven talent who's essentially been playing AAA-level ball at best.— tiger4366
- Seung Lee...was NOT the first coming of Cliff....— stan the man too
- Yeah, and I "could" be elected President.....or maybe Pope...or.....— Mark1npt
- You guys have to watch the video he put on promoting himself. They have it over on hardballtalk. It is awesomely hysterical.— Armyofthe15Monkies
- You guys have to watch the video he put on promoting himself. They have it over on hardballtalk. It is awesomely hysterical.— Armyofthe15Monkies
- Doubtful. Diversionary. Delusional. Dinada.
But interesting and keeps the hot stove burning. Suggest though that we stay focused.— 24sDad - ok so we sign this guy and where's he going to play? you think manuel is going to enjoy telling mayberry that he is going to be a bench player once again? let the guy be a bust somewhere else. We need a role player, Cuddyer, who can not only play the outfield but is a knowledgeable infielder as well.— Anything_Philly_is4me
- I'd rather watch the Thome/Cuddyer story unfold in Philly.— Boru
- The only decent Cuban position player that has "panned out" was Kendry's Morales of the Angels. However, a joyous celebration of a walk off grandslam sidelined Morales for almost 2 full season due to a severly broken ankle landing on home plate (those walk off celebrations are more dangerous that worth it). Chapman has still not worked out regardless of the 100+ mph fastball. Speed only works if you can get the ball over the plate. He can't (so far). Ask Boston how the Matsuzaka plan worked out? Ichiro has been the story of imports.— drhoffman
- Sure glad the Phillies got younger by signing Thome- another guy that is a one-dimensional hitter. I hear that Dave Kingman is available at the right price.— rwolffd12
- u were prob mad when we signed matt staris and we all see how that worked out for us — Anything_Philly_is4me
- uh whats the story? that the Phils will certainly not enter the bidding -- what a deceptive lead -- why don't writers instead analyze how the g.m. took a team that won a WS and committed many more millions of dollars over many years and now has an aging team that can't hit and is a lot less likely to win another WS -- Amaro can't spot talent or fill holes or plan ahead and either overpays ridiculously for past peformance (Howard, Ibanez, Polanco, Blanton, etc) or gets dirt-cheap parts that are useless (Schneider, Baez, Gload) --a decent g.m. figures out to fill holes with a well-balanced team (StL, Det, etc) and can even overcome some bad contracts if he can obtain some decent role players (SF -2010) .. but Amaro just prays that someone from minors can step up as he spends his whole budget on washed-up former stars (Howard) and then says he has no flexibility to actually fill holes— warbiscuit
- Biscuit, c'mon, let us now, it's ok...are you really Mike Arbuckle? — bearsfriend
- Worst... article... ever...— ragecage22
- If it could potentially work out as well as that Cuban Missile Danys Baez did, I'm all for it!— dasher
- Don't really need the 26 year old, $30 million Cuban. The Phils already have a 5 tool center fielder in the organization who played in AA last year and hit 19 homers, drove in 79 runs, stole 20 bases and averaged .291 with runners in scoring position and he is only 24. He costs them nothing so far for next year other than a AAA contract. But who knows with Ruben.— Dull
- RAJ DONT GET CUTE AND STUPID LIKE YOU DID W/THAT HOWARD 5 YEAR EXTENSION, THAT WILL GO DOWN AS THE WORST CONTRACT EXTENSION EVER, JUST SIGN CUDDYEAR AND MADSON, LET J-ROLL WALK— VANIMALS SWEATY GOGGLES
- it's a non-story as the yanks have already worked him out and the marlins will offer more than the phils would consider. but it does raise the question of what would happen if victorino would leave as a FA after next season. with Gose traded, there isnt anyone else sitting around. Derrick Mitchell had a nice season at AA but calling him a five tool talent is pushing it.
cuddyer supporters, tell me how many years/$ you want to go on a 32 year guy with decent numbers for an outfielder who would be a liability playing third or second?— jim715 - if victorino were to leave we would have to count on mayberry to be the real deal and hope to god that brown can get his act together to become an every day LF. that being said mayberry would move to CF and the only thing we would be lacking is a lead-off hitter. but by that time we are hoping that Galvis is major league ready as he would be a lead-off guy for sure. the phillies have options and it would be premature to say they are not planning for the future — Anything_Philly_is4me
- There has been some concern about Victorino's throwing arm ever since he hurt his shoulder a couple of years ago. He still plays centerfield as good as anybody in baseball but his throwing ability is not near where it used to be. Truly instinctive player that goes after balls at the crack of the bat.
Assuming this young Cuban outfielder is all he is supposed to be, what a great alternative he could become if Victorino opts for free agency in a few years. In the meantime,he could be that super utility player (or better)that everybody says Cuddyer will be.
I am further assuming that he is major league ready now.— candidly - Get Him Now Rube!
Boston is paying Crawford $25 M a year.The Gnats are paying Werth $18 M a year. Take a shot with this freak at a fraction of the cost.
He may turn out to be the real deal and carry this franchise for the next 5-10 years.
— argonne - I'm becoming more and more convinced that the majority of fans on these message boards really know nothing beyond Philadelphia players.......— TeamAwesome
- The Phillies organization has always been too cheap to sign Japanese or Cuban free agents. Unfortunately, Hideki Matsui was the MVP of the 2009 World Series, batting .615, the third highest average in World Series history, as the Bombers defeated the Phillies in 6 games.— Gnip Gnop
- 26 in Cuban years is actually 36— Repubrebirth
Watching people blow $30 million is always interesting. Sort of like viewing the _Hindenburg_ blowing up in Lakehurst , New Jersey.- Do people still "defect" from Cuba? Defecting was the way players got out during the Cold War. Don't they just fly over to Miami now? I don't think they have to sneak out on a fishing boat or anything...— Dave Clemens
- Not in this lifetime. This would go down as Amaro's biggest blunder yet. All he has is youth going for him and no track record in the majors. Pass!— A. Martinez
