Best Cuban Player Ever About to Hit the Market?

[Rene88]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/08/jose-dariel-abreu-escapes-from-cuba.html

[JTrea81]

Why is this important you ask? This guy could be the best player to come out of Cuba in sometime - better than Puig and Cespedes.

Jonah Keri from Grantland wrote an article about him with scouts comparing him to Ryan Howard in MLB

Having a 26 year old Ryan Howard at a 1B/DH position would not be a bad thing for this club at all, and Fred Ferreira knows how to recruit these guys.

He's perfect target for Ferreira's next project IMO.

[LayzieDES]

Probably take more than 5 years $50 million per for him (factoring in his age).

I'm sure the O's will do their homework on him but they also still have an OK incumbent at first. He's not a need position. If they want him to DH I would rather they focus on signing some long term deal extensions to their current core and retaining a free agent or 2 of their own. A nice pipe dream of course but I just don't ever see the O's making that big splash.

[JTrea81]

Here's a translated article from ESPN Deportes:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fespndeportes.espn.go.com%2Fnews%2Fstory%3Fid%3D1872061%26s%3Dbei%26type%3Dstory%26campaign%3Drss%26source%3DESPNdeportesPortada%26utm_source%3Dtwitterfeed%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter&act=url

[olehippi]

Here's a translated article from ESPN Deportes:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fespndeportes.espn.go.com%2Fnews%2Fstory%3Fid%3D1872061%26s%3Dbei%26type%3Dstory%26campaign%3Drss%26source%3DESPNdeportesPortada%26utm_source%3Dtwitterfeed%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter&act=url

JTreas.....you must have missed this part:

"Analysts said Abreu would be the most sought free agent in the next break between seasons in the majors and the price could well exceed any contract obtained so far by any of his countrymen as Yasiel Puig , Yoenis Cespedes , or Aroldis Chapman."

The Orioles aren't going to invest $50 - $70 million in this guy.

[Winter]

He'll be a TimeWarnerCable or a Yankee

[Orioles4Life21]

Wow exciting news! I watched every Cuban WBC game. If I remember correctly, Jose Abreu has some massive power. The Cuban team has taken another big hit for sure. The odds of us going after him are slim to none unfortunately.

I'm still pulling for the Cuban second baseman Jose Fernandez to defect. That dude is legit. Cuba has some seriously talented players for sure.

[Snutchy]

Why is this important you ask? This guy could be the best player to come out of Cuba in sometime - better than Puig and Cespedes.

Jonah Keri from Grantland wrote an article about him with scouts comparing him to Ryan Howard in MLB

Having a 26 year old Ryan Howard at a 1B/DH position would not be a bad thing for this club at all, and Fred Ferreira knows how to recruit these guys.

He's perfect target for Ferreira's next project IMO.

The Orioles already have the same player on the roster. His name is Chris Davis, and he is MUCH cheaper than Abreu will be for the next few years.

Hypothetically, you're the GM and you've signed Abreu. What would you do with him? I bet that you'd play him at first base and DH Davis, wouldn't you? I really don't think that would ever happen.

[crissfan172]

JTreas.....you must have missed this part:

"Analysts said Abreu would be the most sought free agent in the next break between seasons in the majors and the price could well exceed any contract obtained so far by any of his countrymen as Yasiel Puig , Yoenis Cespedes , or Aroldis Chapman."

The Orioles aren't going to invest $50 - $70 million in this guy.

He misses that every offseason.

[weams]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/08/jose-dariel-abreu-escapes-from-cuba.html

A .453 batting average; .597 on-base percentage; .986 slugging percentage. Thirty-three homers and 93 runs batted in … in 212 at-bats.

You look at the numbers, squint, and then look again. These are Baseball Stars numbers, a video game creation, with abilities cranked up to the max. There's no way a professional baseball player could have done this.

Except someone did. His name is Jose Abreu. He just might be the best hitter in the world. And you've probably never heard of him.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7601600/cuba-jose-abreu-migh-best-offensive-weapon-planet

[EagleOriole]

Wow exciting news! I watched every Cuban WBC game. If I remember correctly, Jose Abreu has some massive power. The Cuban team has taken another big hit for sure. The odds of us going after him are slim to none unfortunately.

I'm still pulling for the Cuban second baseman Jose Fernandez to defect. That dude is legit. Cuba has some seriously talented players for sure.

They really do have some good players on the island right now. Too bad they can't come here without risking their lives.