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Post by grandsalami on Aug 11, 2013 18:40:14 GMT -5
José Abreu has left the island RT @jorgeebro two sources confirmed to El Nuevo Herald that Cuban baseball player José Dariel Abreu escaped from the island
!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!
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Post by pistowie on Aug 11, 2013 18:46:11 GMT -5
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Post by grandsalami on Aug 11, 2013 19:11:43 GMT -5
could José Abreu be our 1B next season?
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Post by mainesox on Aug 11, 2013 19:18:12 GMT -5
could José Abreu be our 1B next season? If he really has defected, and is declared a free agent between now and then, I would have to imagine that the Sox would be very serious bidders.
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Post by FenwayFanatic on Aug 11, 2013 19:29:12 GMT -5
That would be kind of awesome.
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Post by pedroelgrande on Aug 11, 2013 20:26:50 GMT -5
Reports I've just seen in Spanish in Dominican sites and Facebook say he's either in Haiti waiting to cross to the Dominican Republic or already in the Dominican Republic.
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Post by grandsalami on Aug 11, 2013 20:40:15 GMT -5
We have an opnening at 1B, and the money wont count towards the INT cap, so I would not mind if the sox have to overpay in order to get him. Given his stats he has put up the past few years... He is JUST what the sox need
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Post by FenwayFanatic on Aug 11, 2013 20:52:41 GMT -5
How much money do the Sox really have to spend? We've got roughly 60M tied up between Lackey, Peavy, Lester and Dempster next season... Its hard to trade players making that much. Luckily 3 of the 4 are going to be on their last years next season. I think its time to stop overpaying for innings eaters so we can afford some of these quality FAs.
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Post by pedroelgrande on Aug 11, 2013 20:53:25 GMT -5
Been watching some video of him on YouTube. Big time RH power. I hope that if he is indeed available the Red Sox dive in head first.
Lets look a team that have been active in the Cuban market.
Cubs - They have Rizzo so I don't see them in.
Dodgers - They have Gonzalez so.
A's - they could in but the Red Sox can compete with them.
Phillies - have unmovable Howard in the way.
White Sox - They could be in it. They have Dunn but he's more a DH and Konerko is in his last year. They don't have a good system so this would be a way to add talent.
Yankees - they could have some money to spend this off-season, thank you Buddy, but with Mark Texeira still under contract IDK. Maybe as a DH.
Texas - Is Mitch Moreland entrenched there? don't think so. They could be active and a team that could go toe-to-toe with the Red Sox.
Teams that could be in despite lack of Cuban market dealings:
San Francisco - They have Belt but they don't seem to love him so may be they jump in.
Twins - Mournau (I know its wrong I don't care) is a free agent they have a couple of young players coming up (Sano, Rosario, Arcia, Gibson etc.) so maybe a RH power bat appeals to them. Money matters so the Red Sox can compete there. On second thought they have a big time RH power hitter coming and need pitching they probably invest more in that.
Seattle - Why not try to re-sign their Cuban 1B/DH who has shown a level of performance there.
Mets - They have Ike Davis but he seems to be in the periphery. They say they'll have money to spend this off season and could use RH power.
Yes I was bored.
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Post by Legion of Bloom on Aug 11, 2013 20:59:25 GMT -5
Is this guy any good? Don't know anything about him.
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Post by pedroelgrande on Aug 11, 2013 21:00:05 GMT -5
How much money do the Sox really have to spend? We've got roughly 60M tied up between Lackey, Peavy, Lester and Dempster next season... Its hard to trade players making that much. Luckily 3 of the 4 are going to be on their last years next season. I think its time to stop overpaying for innings eaters so we can afford some of these quality FAs. Given the way they were competitive for Miguel Gonzales I don't think thats a problem. Also what happen to the clause in Lackey's contract that if he had an elbow problem his last year would be for 1m? Given the way he has pitched this year I don't know if the Red Sox would exercise that if it was even true.
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Post by pedroelgrande on Aug 11, 2013 21:01:14 GMT -5
Is this guy any good? Don't know anything about him. Yes he's good. One of the best Cuban hitter of his generation.
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Post by wskeleton76 on Aug 11, 2013 21:10:23 GMT -5
He is the guy the sox should spend money on. Don't hesitate this time.
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Post by FenwayFanatic on Aug 11, 2013 21:14:56 GMT -5
Pedro - Lackey has to come back and pitch for the MLB minimum after next season. Which is why he might have some good trade value to some teams as a solid starter.
I really don't understand why there were competitive on Miguel González or got Peavy either. We already have too many freaking SPs already. I'd like to see some of our prospects actually pitch for the Red Sox instead of just sitting them at AAA.
I would really like to see one of them dealt this offseason. I don't even really care who it is at this point as long as its not selling low on Clay due to his fluke injuries.
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Post by wcsoxfan on Aug 11, 2013 22:00:50 GMT -5
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Post by bjb406 on Aug 11, 2013 22:11:03 GMT -5
would he get a visa and be eligible to sign and play in time for April? I know sometimes it gets held up but I don't know how long.
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Post by southernredsoxality on Aug 11, 2013 22:13:12 GMT -5
This is huge if true. Abreu and Despaigne are clearly the two best hitters in Cuba right now, head and shoulders above Puig (former teamate) and Cespedes. This is a no brainer for Ben, especially given our need at 1b. My Sunday night just got better.
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Post by mainesox on Aug 11, 2013 22:19:34 GMT -5
For what it's worth BA has a short scouting report on him in their WBC writeup, and they mention that some scouts think he might be more of a mistake hitter and might not be able to make the transition to major league pitching, citing his only "fair" batspeed which causes trouble with fastballs inside, as well as his tendency to chase hard breaking stuff away. Personally, I'm finding it hard not to get caught up in the hype because of the video game numbers he's put up (including in comparison to other good hitters out of Cuba), but I thought I should throw that out there. ADD: Here's the link, for insiders: link
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Post by rider on Aug 11, 2013 22:26:58 GMT -5
Never heard of him but numbers are very interesting. And that would be filling a hole without giving up prospects or a 1st rounder, only money.
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Post by templeusox on Aug 11, 2013 22:30:23 GMT -5
Despaigne is awesome. I love that guy.
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Post by pedroelgrande on Aug 11, 2013 22:34:31 GMT -5
Despaigne is awesome. I love that guy.
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Post by iakovos11 on Aug 11, 2013 22:44:55 GMT -5
The fair batspeed has me concerned. Callis also tweeted something to the effect of "more strong than batspeed". Video game numbers in Cuba don't necessarily translate to MLB
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Post by mainesox on Aug 11, 2013 22:57:14 GMT -5
The fair batspeed has me concerned. Callis also tweeted something to the effect of "more strong than batspeed". Video game numbers in Cuba don't necessarily translate to MLB It's definitely something to consider (which is why I brought it up, obviously), and I would want to be confident it either wasn't a concern or I could fix it before I gave him a huge contract, but he did put up considerably better numbers than Cespedes or Puig facing the same competition (it's not a 1:1 correlation, but that's got to mean something I would think).
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Post by jmei on Aug 11, 2013 23:23:21 GMT -5
How much money do the Sox really have to spend? We've got roughly 60M tied up between Lackey, Peavy, Lester and Dempster next season... Its hard to trade players making that much. Luckily 3 of the 4 are going to be on their last years next season. I think its time to stop overpaying for innings eaters so we can afford some of these quality FAs. The Red Sox are not anywhere near the luxury tax limit. Per Cot's, the Red Sox have $88m guaranteed in 2013, with just a few arb-eligible players-- the only ones I see being tendered are Morales and Miller as third-year arb players and Tazawa and Carp as first-year arb players (I don't think Uehara is actually arb-eligible and think Bailey, Aceves, and Bard will be no-tendered). Let's tentatively and generously budget $15m for those guys and the pre-arb gang. Assuming Lester's $13m option is picked up, that adds up to $116m. The luxury tax line will be $189m, which leaves $73m to spend with 1B, C, and RP/closer as the only obvious holes. The Red Sox can easily afford to spend whatever they want on Abreu if they want him.
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Post by sdiaz1 on Aug 11, 2013 23:29:05 GMT -5
Obviously when discussing Cuban ball players, how they scout weighs much more heavily than their stats. And all of the big ticket offensive Cuban IFAs of last years class are all incredibly physically impressive, while Abreu does not have athleticism that they (Cespedes, Puig, Soler) have. However with that said, you don't slug .938 in any league just by taking advantage of hanging curves. Anyone who signs him should temper expectations, he might just* be a good offensive first basemen. I really really hope we get him.
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