* Red Sox sign Cuban Defector (1B) *

[AnibalJonJon]

Don't know if anyone posted this but, here you go ...

 

 

 

Michel Abreu defected from Cuba 18 months ago with endless expectations. He figured he would gain residency status in Mexico, perform in a tryout camp for 30 major league teams and sign a lucrative contract to play first base in the United States.

 

 

But Abreu's path from defecting to agreeing in principle to a $425,000 signing bonus with the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday was more circuitous. Abreu bounced between agents and sacrificed two years of his career for that modest bonus. He also had to live in two countries as he chased a contract in the United States. Abreu, one of Cuba's best power hitters, could compete for a spot on Boston's 25-man roster in 2006.

 

Bart Hernandez, an agent who recently tried in vain to represent Abreu, said Abreu defected by boat in February 2004. Bill Rego, another agent, took Abreu to Mexico to establish residency. When a defector does that, he is not subject to the amateur draft and can negotiate a contract with any major league team.

 

For instance, the Yankees outbid Boston to sign the Cuban pitcher Jos? Contreras to a four-year, $32 million deal in 2002. That prompted Larry Lucchino, the Red Sox president, to refer to the Yankees as the evil empire. The Yankees also signed pitcher Orlando Hern?ndez, another defector, to a four-year, $6.6 million contract in 1998.

 

First baseman Kendry Morales, who is regarded as one of the best Cuban prospects ever, received a $3 million signing bonus from the Angels this season. Morales hit over .300 at Class AA Arkansas.

 

But some players who defect do not sign with a team, or sign and never reach the majors.

 

Abreu spent several months in Mexico and could not get the documentation necessary to become a resident, so he relocated to Costa Rica. He parted ways with Rego and, after waiting some more, acquired the proper paperwork to become a resident of Costa Rica, where Bernie McGregor became his representative. John Boggs, an agent, negotiated the signing bonus with the Red Sox.

 

Some baseball executives involved in pursuing international players said it was not uncommon for players to switch agents. That annoys teams because the progress made with one representative usually vanishes when that person is replaced.

 

Roberto Gonz?lez Echevarr?a, a professor at Yale who is an expert on Cuban baseball, said defectors often ended up languishing in other countries while they awaited the documentation to pursue a career in the United States. Gonz?lez Echevarr?a said teams had also become more cautious about signing Cubans.

 

"The market for Cuban players has dropped precipitously in the wake of Contreras's poor performance with the Yankees," he said. "The Yankees gave him all that money to keep him away from the Red Sox, and then they didn't have patience with him."

 

Contreras was supposed to be a dominant pitcher for the Yankees, but he had a fragile psyche and was mostly an enigma. He was 15-7 with a 4.64 earned run average before the Yankees traded him to the Chicago White Sox last season. What made Contreras's stint particularly galling to the Yankees is that he was dreadful against the Red Sox, with an 0-4 record and a 16.43 E.R.A.

 

Abreu, who is listed as 6 feet 3 inches and 220 pounds, made his debut with the Cuban national team in 1999.

 

While the Red Sox have David Ortiz under contract for next season, he is essentially a designated hitter and rarely plays first base. Kevin Millar and John Olerud, Boston's primary first basemen, are not signed for 2006, so Abreu, 26, could be given a chance to play first next season.

 

General Manager Theo Epstein refused to comment on Abreu. But Craig Shipley, a special assistant to Epstein who specializes in international scouting, has scouted Abreu for more than a year.

 

The Red Sox gave Abreu a Tuesday deadline to accept their offer. Abreu, who had been hoping for a bigger bonus, did not know if another team would come after him, so he agreed in principle with Boston, ending a long journey from Cuba to the United States.

 

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/sports/baseball/08cuban.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1126225898-fVmfmRtVZr4n85IylehZqw

 

 

 

* Possible 1B in 2006? :dunno: Btw, can anybody find any stats on this guy?

[AnibalJonJon]

Only stats I could find on him...

 

Side by side compared to Kendry Morales ...

 

 

----------------R - HR - RBI - BB - AVG - SLG%

 

Michel Abreu- 78 - 23 - 82 - 61 - 356 - 647

Kendry Morales- NL - 21 - 82 - NL - NL - 577

 

 

NL = Not Listed

 

 

* Not bad being that Morales got a $3 million signing bonus ...

 

 

* Seems like he was the MVP of the Cuban BBall league in "2002" ...

[26 to 6]

are these stats from 2002, and where are these stats coming from? Was he playing in a league in Cuba, are these based on international competition, etc?

[AnibalJonJon]

are these stats from 2002, and where are these stats coming from? Was he playing in a league in Cuba, are these based on international competition, etc?

Yes their from Cuba, what year idk ( I'm guessing 2003)..... Took me a while to translate it from spanish + the site sucks major balls ....

[example1]

thanks for the info anibal... good stuff.

[Soxfan1]

I read in USA today we were competing with the yanks and phillies to get him. He's supposed to be good.

[Sizzlin22]

Jose Consuckass was supposed to be good too. I don't trust Cuban defects untill they perform at the big league level.

[ORS]

Since it seems Morales is the player to compare him to, here is what Kendry has done in the minors this year:

 

(A) Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: .944 OPS, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 1.833 K/BB in 90 AB's

(AA) Arkansas Travelers: .879 OPS, 17 HR, 54 RBI, 2.53 K/BB in 281 AB's

 

Morales appears to be a free swinger with an OBP only ~+.040 points than his BA. Hopefully Abreu is a little more patient, or is at least is responsive to some changes because you know the Sox will try and get him to be selective at the plate.

 

Morales stats link

 

1B Michel Abreu

2B Dustin Pedroia

SS Hanley Ramirez

3B Kevin Youkilis/Andrew Pinckney..........Infield in '08?

[CrespoBlows]

Abreu, will most likely be up sooner. But that's a huge if. There was another Morales signed out of Cuba, who impressed scouts with his raw power. Anyone remember Andy Morales?

 

The Yankees took a shot at the 3rd basemen, after he hit a monstrous HR off the Orioles in Camden Yards, but when he arrived at Yankees camp he had a slow bat, and the only time he could hit a HR is if he was standing on the warning track. This could be a good signing, but he needs at least a year in the minors.

[ORS]

I considered the possibility of '08 with a conservative 2 years of development and assessment. He has the potential to come up quicker, but as you mentioned, these things don't always pan out, hence the conservative estimate.

 

EDIT: Where would you start him next year? Wilmington with a quick call to Portland if he performs, or just start him off in Portland?

[CrespoBlows]

I considered the possibility of '08 with a conservative 2 years of development and assessment. He has the potential to come up quicker, but as you mentioned, these things don't always pan out, hence the conservative estimate.

 

I would have said '08, as well, but his age, 26, leads me to believe that he has to be more polished than Kendry Morales.

 

If anyone lives in Florida, he'll most likely be playing for the Red Sox in spring training.

[CrespoBlows]

I considered the possibility of '08 with a conservative 2 years of development and assessment. He has the potential to come up quicker, but as you mentioned, these things don't always pan out, hence the conservative estimate.

 

EDIT: Where would you start him next year? Wilmington with a quick call to Portland if he performs, or just start him off in Portland?

 

I'm not sure right now. If he tears up the Mexican league in the winter, and has a pretty good showing in Spring Training, I'd probably put him in Pawtucket. But if he's just average, or the Red Sox want to be conservative, then Portland sounds ok.

[riverside sluggers]

i had found a picture of Michael Abreu

[Boogie]

Never trust a Cuban defector.

[riverside sluggers]

Never trust a Cuban defector.

 

well thats not a racist comment

[Boogie]

well thats not a racist comment

We all know how effective Contreras was and who knows how old El Duque actually is. Far from racist.

[schillingouttheks]

Eh, a different choice of words could have possibly been used? Like instead of saying what you did, maybe compare him to the likes of the two people you mentioned? It sounded racist, not labeling you, just making you aware of how it sounded.

[Boogie]

There is something so ironic going on with these accusations, but I won't even go into that.

[riverside sluggers]

well dude i didnt know what you fully meant until you started to name off players and such

 

never trust a cuban defector

[ClayBuchholzIsDaFuture]

We all know how effective Contreras was and who knows how old El Duque actually is. Far from racist.

Yeah, Contreras(Chisox ace AT THE MOMENT) & El Duque(Best SP the Yanks had last season) are garbage.... :thumbdown

[ksushi]

nothing racist about saying you dont trust cuban defectors, its kind of true, why dont think come up through the ropes like everyone else instead of trying to skip steps to get to the majors? its just one of those things.

[ClayBuchholzIsDaFuture]

nothing racist about saying you dont trust cuban defectors, its kind of true, why dont think come up through the ropes like everyone else instead of trying to skip steps to get to the majors? its just one of those things.

Ummm, there's this guy named Fidel Castro..

[Boogie]

In general, they have often lied about their age and have brought too much baggage with them. Contreras may have performed well with the ChiSox this season, but he was an obvious choker with the Yanks and El Duque's injury allowed for Kevin Brown to have to start Game 7. I won't forgive either of them, ever, and those are the two most recent Cuban defectors who have had the biggest impact on baseball. Not to mention Livan Hernandez's refusal to lose weight.

[Boogie]

well dude i didnt know what you fully meant until you started to name off players and such

 

never trust a cuban defector

Oh, maybe I should just start giving in depth analysises of every single post I make for the benefit of your inability to comprehend beyond what the exact words say.

[schillingouttheks]

lol, owned.

[Cityofchampions33]

ouch

[ClayBuchholzIsDaFuture]

Three weeks ago, the Red Sox signed first baseman Michel Abreu to a $425,000 contract. Friday, the club began the process of voiding the deal.

 

The principle reason is that the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Abreu, a Cuban refugee, could not establish residency and therefore would not be eligible to play in 2006.

 

Another reason is that Abreu represented himself as being 26 years old. However, the roster from the 1999 Orioles-Cuba national team game lists Abreu's birth date as Feb. 8, 1975. The Red Sox found that to be the legitimate date, and Abreu mispresenting his age made the contract voidable.

 

 

 

 

*Bummer .... <_>

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

yeah I posted that in the farm forum.

[riverside sluggers]

Three weeks ago, the Red Sox signed first baseman Michel Abreu to a $425,000 contract. Friday, the club began the process of voiding the deal.

 

The principle reason is that the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Abreu, a Cuban refugee, could not establish residency and therefore would not be eligible to play in 2006.

 

Another reason is that Abreu represented himself as being 26 years old. However, the roster from the 1999 Orioles-Cuba national team game lists Abreu's birth date as Feb. 8, 1975. The Red Sox found that to be the legitimate date, and Abreu mispresenting his age made the contract voidable.

 

damn. that is shady of him to do so. Now thats out of the way, still my favorite pick to be 1st baseman for 2006 is Aubrey Huff, unlike Konerko he said he would be open to go to Boston

[Boogie]

HMMMM WHAT NOW?

 

Still want to call me racist, or maybe you should call me right?