21 yr old Cuban lefty that throws 100mph defected

[Herm]

How about this for a mid season acquisition? http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4302422

 

Of course there are many questions:

 

1) how high will the price tag be? (article guesses $30-$60M range)

2) will Brewers be in the mix?

3) how ready is he (article questions readiness based on maturity, off-speed pitches, performance at WBC)

4) how long until he gets visa issues etc sorted out?

 

Of course, we already know that being 21 and throwing 100 is no guarantee of success (see Jeffress thread....)

[804Sox]

Don't worry . . . he'll be with the Yankees soon . . .

[jwill535]

They said that he more then likely will not be available to pitch till next year due to the legal process he will have to go through.

[igor67]

Now really guys this Cuban defector is the "one". These guys continually get hyped like they are almost ready, but have a success rate more comparable to a second round pick than a Japanesse posting star. Let's see if he can actually hit 100 mph with control consistently and why not an MRI of the shoulder first.

[804Sox]

he was hitting triple digits on the stadium guns during the WBC, and definitely looked impressive. Had a sharp breaking ball too. Probably (definitely not, in my opinion) not ready for MLB right now, but showed "flashes of brilliance" against top competition this summer. Looks as legit as any 21yro I've seen . . .

[Postseason2006]

Can we get these guys into the draft? This always boggles me why teams can just fork out money for guys like Contreras, Dice K, and Godzilla.

[tommyboy42609]

The left handed Stephen Strasburg?

[dayzedcrewfan]

Even though it hasn't really been proven a report came out today that he is actually 26 and not 21 as previously reported, according to WBC info. Kid's still got a cannon, but his price should go down a bit after this revelation.

[BrewPackBuck]

Even though it hasn't really been proven a report came out today that he is actually 26 and not 21 as previously reported, according to WBC info. Kid's still got a cannon, but his price should go down a bit after this revelation.

 

Wow if this is true it will change everything. I would still go after him with a cheap contract. Also do you have a link for this at all?

[PeaveyFury]

Don't worry . . . he'll be with the Yankees soon . . .

 

....and in 4-5 years, they'll be trying to dump his bloated contract when he proves to be overhyped and just stunningly mediocre like el Duque or Contreras, the last "phenoms" to come out of Cuba.

[dayzedcrewfan]

Heres a couple links for you...

 

http://www.nytimes.com/20...%20chapman%20&st=cse

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors...rtedly-26-years-old.html

[PKBadger]

Don't worry . . . he'll be with the Yankees soon . . .

 

....and in 4-5 years, they'll be trying to dump his bloated contract when he proves to be overhyped and just stunningly mediocre like el Duque or Contreras, the last "phenoms" to come out of Cuba.

 

A bit off-topic: I'll give you Contreras, but I wouldn't describe El Duque as "mediocre". Especially considering that he started his major league career at age 32. He posted some fine seasons for the Yankees (and even his later tenure with the Mets), not ace-quality but definitely a solid #3 or lower tier #2 starter.

 

Top 4 similar pitchers according to b-r: Lackey, Penny, Carpenter, Beckett.

 

(This ends my arbitrary and random defense of Orlando Hernandez http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.)