Cubs sign pair of Cuban Prospects

[Little Slide Rooter]

Cubs Sign Yasiel Balaguert And Carlos Martinez

By Mike Axisa [December 30 at 2:28pm CST]

The Cubs have signed Cuban prospects Yasiel Balaguert and Carlos Martinez, reports Baseball America's Ben Badler. Both players are represented by Jaime Torres.

 

Balaguert, 19 in January, is said to have "modest tools" and a "long, uppercut swing from the right side and an aggressive, pull-oriented approach that leaves him susceptible to secondary stuff." Although he's played center, it's likely that he'll be relegated to left field down the line. The Marlins had interest in signing him earlier this offseason.

 

Martinez, 20, is a right-handed pitcher who has worked mostly out of the bullpen according to Badler. He has a "fastball that parks in the low 90s" and an "average curveball but it often gets slurvy, while his changeup is also a work in progress with occasional fade."

[Abe Frohman]

Load up the system with Soler and Cespedes countrymen.

[Rob]

Why is it necessary to label the move "uninspiring"?

[XZero771679666304]

Why is it necessary to label the move "uninspiring"?

 

Because people are going to bemoan and belittle every little move that isn't the one they want to see.

[El Duderino]

This post reminded me of that Seinfeld episode for some reason

[Backtobanks]

Why is it necessary to label the move "uninspiring"?

 

Because after looking at their descriptions, to label it inspiring would have been an outright lie. :lol:

[jersey cubs fan]

Why is it necessary to label the move "uninspiring"?

 

Didn't he label the players uninspiring?

[Little Slide Rooter]

Why is it necessary to label the move "uninspiring"?

 

Because people are going to bemoan and belittle every little move that isn't the one they want to see.

 

For one thing, I didn't want to make it look like like I was teasing Cespedes and Solar. Then there's the descriptions of the 2 guys, one having modest tools and the other a fastball that peaks in the low 90's with an average curve.

[Conky]

Load up the system with Soler and Cespedes countrymen.

 

This. ^^

[A New Era]

Load up the system with Soler and Cespedes countrymen.

 

This. ^^

 

Hey Esolar. We have epeople from your, ecountry. In our, esystem.

[davell]

The Marlins and Mariners worked out Balagaert. When he defected, there was a lot of hype behind him. There were rumors of him seeking an 18 to 20 million dollar contract and he had been compared to a young Andruw Jones. Then, he worked out and BA gave the description that's been posted here. He IS a prospect though, just not nearly as highly thought of as he may have been. My guess is he still gets a fairly hefty bonus. Couldn't find anything on Martinez whatsoever.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The Marlins and Mariners worked out Balagaert. When he defected, there was a lot of hype behind him. There were rumors of him seeking an 18 to 20 million dollar contract and he had been compared to a young Andruw Jones. Then, he worked out and BA gave the description that's been posted here. He IS a prospect though, just not nearly as highly thought of as he may have been. My guess is he still gets a fairly hefty bonus. Couldn't find anything on Martinez whatsoever.

 

So he weant from Andruw Jones to Tyler Colvin that quickly, huh? Goes to show how important it is to actually scout these top international prospects rather than just going by word of mouth.

[dew1679666265]

Hopefully Theo/Hoyer/McLeod saw something in these kids that BA did not, because the scouting report from BA wasn't exciting. They are young, though, so they have plenty of time to work on things.

[davell]

I'm kind of hoping this is a way of helping Soler feel comfortable with us. Balagaert and him were teammates at least.

[davell]

Goldstein said neither are bigtime prospects. Wouldn't make him go and redo a top 20 list or anything. Cubs like Martinez, has projection in arm and physique.

[davell]

Balanguert got 400,000 and Martinez got 250,000, per Ben Badler.

[CincyCubsFan]

Yay for purposely misleading thread titles.

[jersey cubs fan]

yay for 2-week delayed reactions

[CincyCubsFan]

yay for 2-week delayed reactions

 

 

There hadn't been any activity in the thread in 11 days. When I all of a sudden see this thread at the top of the page, one logical thing comes to mind. Have a great day.

[Sammy Sofa]

Let our distaste for WSR unite us and not divide us, gentlemen.

[Rob]

Obviously the title should have been "Cubs cheaply sign two Cubans with moderate upside (not Cespedes or Soler)"

 

What the hell was WSR thinking?

[davell]

We might should make this the All Cubans Thread not named Cespedes or Soler. Maybe Geraldo Concepcion and Omar Luis deserve their own threads as well, if we signed them. But, there are over 30 Cubans currently in the Dominican Republic, waiting to be signed right now.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

WSR thinking

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[CubColtPacer]

Enough everyone.