Sorry if its been gone over, but can't find ANY confirmation that the 'Stros ever signed this Cuban bloke? Tons of articles say RUMORED to, or EXPECTED to sign. Just curious if anyone gots the official info? Was he ever signed?
Because they changed the rules so that teams cannot acquire additional international signing bonus money allotments after teams had made agreements with players, some of the top prospects will have to sign for far less than they were projected. There is a rumor the Dodgers are getting one of the top 5 prospects available for $400k. I’m hopeful that this means Houston will have a chance to get Oscar Colas in addition to getting Pedro Leon. Although most of what I have read is predicting Colas will sign with the White Sox.
Coincidentally MLBtR just mentioned that the White Sox may be out of the running for Colas: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/12/white-sox-to-sign-yoelki-cespedes.html Signing both Leon and Colas would go a long way to bolstering the position player side of Houston’s farm.
For comparison sake, if Leon were in the draft instead of a IFA, what type of round grade would he be
FanGraphs grades him similarly to what they rated as the 34th-72nd overall draft prospects last year...so 2nd round pick give or take. However, the money Astros are offering suggests they value him as high to mid round first round pick.
Yes it’s a big deal for Houston given the state of their farm. He’s the type of prospect that even teams with really good systems would place in the back half of their Org top 10.
Supposedly higher, that is just the negotiated number to get him to sign. They think his size is what has kept him from being a bigger prospect but believe it doesn't matter because they love the way the ball leaves his bat. They also think he can stick in center field.
Interesting. If he can stick in CF, you presumably have 2/3 of your outfield lined up for awhile between he and Tucker.
I thought some Real Madrid fan boy got tooexcited and posted in the wrong forum. Anyways, I've read enough! Start him.
Yes. The Astros had a private workout with him and he wore complicated computers that measure every thing from speed to bat speed and wrist strength. As soon as the workout was done the Astros reached an agreement and the agent called all the other teams and said the multiple team workout was canceled, they had an agreement with the Astros.
Hope this is the case. Not sure where I heard it, but he's supposedly close to the majors such that it may be possible for him to be on team in the later part of the year to see if he's playoff ready.
Hopefully it doesn't take to long to transition to mlb pitching. If he sticks in center and we resign Brantley, do we play tucker in right?
Yes Tucker would go to right. There is a lot of buzz from within the organization that he will be ready to play fairly quickly. I think that is asking a lot, he dominated the Cuban League but it was watered down by defections and he hasn’t played in a decent amount of time. Sometimes a Cuban or Japanese player comes over and really does need little time. I will just say that if he takes awhile I wouldn’t write him off. We are asking a lot from him, but they believe he can be a quality starter fairly quick... and they are pretty confident of it... they clearly view him differently than trade publications.
