It really is amazing how disciplined he is at the plate. Just by looking at him and knowing nothing about him, you would almost expect him to be a boom or bust guy like Adam Dunn or Chris Carter, at least as a rookie.
I think he was 180 pounds when he was drafted, and I bet that scouts were skeptical that he was actually 17 years old since he was already 6'4"-5. It's definitely good that he wasn't a masher in his youth. He bats like a contact hitter that just happens to be freakishly powerful.
https://www.truebluela.com/2016/6/1...act-dodgers-cuba-international-signing-period Interesting read. Yordan was the 5th highest bonus handed out by LA. He was described as “an athletic contact hitter”. They were deep in the penalty, and so it cost them $4M to sign Yordan that cycle (further limiting the Rangers secret deal theory). Must be nice to be a big market spender. The Dodgers spent over $90 million that cycle. I didn’t track down all of the players, but their $15+M bonus pitcher is struggling mightily in AA (and is off their top prospects list altogether), and the $15+M outfielder was part of the package for a half season of Machado. Only one of the other guys is on their current MLB.com top 30 prospects is #16 Omar Estevez. Ironically, if they had kept Yordan, it would probably have justified all of the other misses.
The fact that they only gave him 2 million of the 46 million bucks says that they thought he had some potential, but definitely wasn't a sure thing. Alvarez is like Barry Bonds in the sense that they are both contact hitters in their youth. Alvarez just gained his power without steroids. He got it the old fashioned way. Adulthood.
Take it for what it is worth but this is what I remember and I know it isn’t entirely consistent with some articles. At the time of the trade for Alvarez there was limited scouting on him and he was pegged as a power hitting first baseman with a slow bat. The Astros did have genuine interest in him. Coming from Cuba at that time and with interuptions in his play there were some serious question marks. Having said that, it became clear early to the Astros that he was very bright, didn’t have maturity issues and was driven to become very good. He firmed his body up, played some outfield and cut down on his swing. Take it for what it is worth, but supposedly some of the issue with Alvarez in the field is they think he is an injury risk with his size and the awkward way he lands. He still doesn’t have that much experience in left field. His AAA manager felt he would be a very solid left fielder with enough experience knowing how to play the angles. As far as first base goes, he played that position for most of his life in Cuba. Keep in mind though what Jose Abreu said a few years ago when he came over to the big leagues. He said in Cuba it didn’t matter if you were a good fielder at 1st and it wasn’t ever pressed. He had to learn that in the majors it was the difference between good and very good.
Also just to be clear he was NOT 180 lbs when he was signed by the Dodgers... he had already put on a good 40 to 50 pounds by then and there were concerns he would continue to gain weight.
Bonds was a 40hr guy without steroids. Just not a 70hr guy. I don't think anyone has been a 70hr guy without steroids.
I am wondering if we are going to see a failed drug test. He was never particular productive in the minors. He had to repeat AA and is already 25. He had a lot of homers in AAA this year and had a good but not fantastic OPS of around .900... Maybe he has figured it out (it happens) but to this day I am skeptical of guys like that.
Think with the baseballs flying out, it's just really hard to know who is real and who is not this year. I can't really be suspicious of anyone this year, and I can't really get over excited either. Not even with Alvarez. But as long as we are playing with these balls the guys who hit them best should be on the field until the league self corrects.
He wasn't 180 pounds when the Dodgers signed him. He was already a good 220-230 lbs. He was 180 lbs when he first was scouted as a 15 year old and signed his first contract with Las Tunas. He was already playing professionally in Cuba by the time he was 16 years old and after two seasons he came over. He missed an entire year of baseball and there were concerns over that time period because he could not properly workout and because he was missing a critical period in the development of a player. I'm not picking on you, I just saw your post and I know it has been reported he was very thin, he just had filled out by the time he signed with the Dodgers and even before then, when he was being show cased. Also, I keep reading about concerns about his power, he 16-17 years old and playing professionally against men in their late 20's and into their late 30's. Many of those players he played against were guys that at one point were good enough to play major league baseball or players that would fill out AAA rosters. Expecting power from someone at 16-17 years old isn't realistic as it is all based on speculation. He was a tall player with broad shoulders and already was putting on weight and muscle during his time with Las Tunas, power being added was a pretty good bet. Also Las Tunas was not an easy place to hit homers.
So far in 2019 this is what Alvarez has done: 109 games 338 average 430 on base 42 homers 126 rbi 84 runs 1.150 OPS The player he reminds me the most of at this point is Dave Parker.
I loved watching that guy, yet I hated him so much when he was with the Reds, that's when I really remember watching him, too young for the Pitt days. My dad would say "****, you shoulda seen him before he got fat"
I was too young to see him with the Pirates other than on tape but if you have the time, go back and look at his advanced statistics. He was the best player in the world with the Pirates for a 2-3 stretch. He could do everything offensively and was a gold glove outfielder. His problem was that he began partying and using cocaine and heroin and that really destroyed his career during his prime seasons. He recovered later with the Reds, but had he avoided drug issues for a 5-6 year span, he would have likely been a first Ballot Hall of Famer.
The Pirates, and a bunch of MLB, did have a problem with the yayo, late 70's to mid 80's, there's a reason there's a thing called the "Pittsburgh Drug Trials"
Not to nitpick but... I don't think he did heroin. It was cocaine, and it was rampant. True story: one of the people implicated in that trial was the guy who played the freaking Pirate Parrot mascot. I mean, when i say it was rampant... Pittsburgh was literally the epicenter of cocaine use in MLB, with several Astros (Cabell, Richard, Leonard), being named specifically by Parker, who claimed he hooked those players up with his dealer.
