Cuban 1B Free Agent Jose Dariel Abreu

[Station 13]

By Charlie Wilmoth [August 11 at 10:37pm CST]

 

Slugging first baseman Jose Dariel Abreu has escaped from Cuba and is elsewhere in the Caribbean, Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald reports. It is unclear where Abreu is now (Ebro notes that various reports have placed Abreu in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti), but one agent with whom Abreu has had contact confirms that he is not in Cuba.

 

If in fact Abreu can make his way into the MLB free agent market, he'd have an enormous impact, likely earning the largest contract ever given to a Cuban player. The 26-year-old hit .453/.597/.986 in Cuba's Serie Nacional in 2010-2011 before hitting .394/.542/.837 in 2011-2012 and .382/.535/.735 in 2012-2013. Also in 2013, he hit .360/.385/.760 in six games for Cuba in the World Baseball Classic.

 

Those are, of course, stunning numbers, and ESPN Deportes' Jorge Morejon notes that Abreu will likely also benefit from a rising tide of good play by Cuban defectors like Yasiel Puig and Yoenis Cespedes. Grantland's Jonah Keri wrote in 2012 that Abreu "just might be the best hitter in the world," and Abreu's entry into the free agent market would surely be accompanied by a tidal wave of hype. Major League teams may not think quite the same way -- Keri notes that Abreu isn't particularly athletic, which might dampen teams' enthusiasm somewhat. But he quotes Athletics assistant GM David Forst comparing Abreu to Ryan Howard, which would still make Abreu a very valuable commodity.

 

Since Abreu is over 23 and has played Cuban professional baseball for more than three years, he would enter the market as an unrestricted free agent. He would appear to be in excellent position to receive more than Puig, who got seven years and $42MM from the Dodgers last June.

 

Yeah I do think the Sox need to look into getting a power bat for 1B.

[redsoxfan3]

Yeah I do think the Sox need to look into getting a power bat for 1B.

 

I am not a major league scout and I do not know much about this guy, but I just read an article saying that this guy (if he is cleared to sign this offseason) will be the best 1B on the market. Mike Napoli is currently rated the best FA going into the offseason at 1B. I would love to sign this guy if he is truly going to be a better right handed power bat than Napoli. He is only 26 years old. I don't know much about his defensive ability at 1B, but if he truly is a good power threat that could boost our offense, then I am all for it.

 

In 2010-11, Abreu won the MVP award after having one of the greatest seasons in Cuban history, despite missing 23 games due to bursitis in his shoulder. Abreu batted .453/.597/.986 in 293 plate appearances, blasting 33 home runs with 58 walks and 32 strikeouts. He led Cuba in batting average, OBP, slugging and OPS. He tied Yoenis Cespedes, now with the Athletics, for the league lead in home runs despite stepping to the plate 122 fewer times.

 

Abreu’s MVP season came one year after he finished third in MVP voting behind Despaigne and third baseman Yulieski Gourriel. Abreu batted .399/.555/.822 with 30 home runs, 74 walks and 49 strikeouts in 82 games that season to lead Cuba in OBP, slugging and OPS while ranking second in batting average and finishing one home run shy of Despaigne for the league lead in homers.

 

Much like they were with Cespedes, scouts are extremely familiar with Abreu, having followed him while he played for Cuba’s top national team at several international tournaments over the last few years. International scouts’ most recent look at Abreu came at the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam last month, although Abreu only played in the first two games of the tournament due to injury. Scouts saw more of Abreu in March at the World Baseball Classic, where he hit .360/.385/.760 with three home runs in 25 at-bats, numbers in line with his typical dominance during international play.

 

Those numbers are impressive. If he could even hit .275 in the majors with 30+ homers on a consistent basis, then I would be happy. Supposedly there are mixed reviews among scouts because he has a double toe tap in his stride. He is also prone to swinging at sliders off of the plate. Scouts also think that he might have a tough time catching up to fastballs on the inner third of the plate. He is known to be an intelligent hitter, so he could probably adjust to those problems. I don't know much about his plate discipline other than chasing sliders out of the zone and scouts questioning his bat speed on the inner third of the plate. If he can hit for a decent average and supply us with 30 homers, then that will be a huge upgrade at 1B over Napoli. Napoli has hit 20+ homers in his past five seasons, but only has 14 this year. He hit 24 last year, and has already matched his games played mark that he reached last year.

 

I know it is obviously a risk, but it could benefit this team in the long-run. Even if this guy is not able to play 1B for the remainder of his career because of problems defensively, he could fill-in as a DH when Big Papi retires. I am probably getting a little ahead of myself, but those numbers that he had in Cuba are impressive. During an 82 game stretch, he hit 30 homers and had a walk to strikeout ratio of around 3:2. If he can translate the walk to strikeout ratio over to the majors, then that will be a huge upgrade over Napoli's strikeouts. It will be interesting to see what happens with him over the offseason, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on. He is expected to get more than Puig's 7/42 contract, but if the price is right and he turns out to be legit, then I am all for a contract for a 26 year old power bat. He is 6 years younger than Napoli. It is too early to set realistic expectations for this guy for next season by not knowing if he can even be a FA this offseason, but it will be an interesting story to follow.

[Dojji]

Nothing to lose. And our last Cuban was really, really awesome for us (Iglesias) so why not? We have Carp in the wings in case it falls flat, and he's a good young hitter with some promise of his own, and we have some CIF talent in the minors, so it's not like we'd be leaving the next empty if it failed. It's a great time to take a risk.

 

100% open to the option of giving Jose Abreu a big league contract.