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New Cuban escapee


southsider2k5

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 11:55 AM)
Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 18m

 

One of Cuba's up-and-coming young pitchers has left the island. Scouting info and a GIF at Baseball America: http://bit.ly/UfhZ7t

 

Wtf is Despaigne like a Cuban stage name or something? This is the third significant prospect named Despaigne to pop up in the new in the last 6 months.

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This is going to be a busy weekend for the sox brass.

 

First is the draft, then go and see this new Cuban kid and / or get info on him to judge him.

 

here is a question, did he just escape or did he already and teams are trying to see him before

July 2?

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QUOTE (LDF @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 03:12 PM)
This is going to be a busy weekend for the sox brass.

 

First is the draft, then go and see this new Cuban kid and / or get info on him to judge him.

 

here is a question, did he just escape or did he already and teams are trying to see him before

July 2?

 

He just left Cuba so he will be subject to the international prospect pool which likely takes the Sox, Cubs, and Rangers at least out of the running for him. He will end up with someone like the Yankees, Brewers, or Rays that already planned to bust through the international spending caps anyway.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 11:04 AM)
Baseball America ‏@BaseballAmerica 3m

 

Cuban star Alfredo Despaigne has been suspended for for life from the Mexican League. http://oak.ctx.ly/r/17d2b

 

That is such a weird situation. It sounds like Despaigne and his family have pretty close ties with the Cuban government and they approved of him playing in Mexico. However, the Mexican league told him he should seek another passport because Cuban passports are difficult to travel with.

 

"Mexican League teams aren’t affiliated with major league clubs, but they are associate members of Minor League Baseball. While Minor League Baseball cannot govern the roster rules of the Mexican League, Minor League Baseball officials told the Mexican League at the Winter Meetings that they would prefer the league did not sign Cuban citizens because it could create logistical issues with the Cuban embargo enforced by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. So the Mexican League now asks Cuban players to have a passport from another country in order to play in the league."

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/internation...nican-passport/

 

So, it sounds like he went out and bought a fake passport without trying to gain citizenship to appease the Mexican league/MiLB just so he could play. I get that it is technically fraud, but what is the guy supposed to do?

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http://www.baseballamerica.com/internation...hake-up-market/

 

Doesn't sound like Carbonell or Rusney Castillo are going to be top Sox targets. You don't invest that kind of money into likely 4th outfielders.

 

You have to go after the Puigs, Cespedes and Abreus and every once in a while an Alexei Ramirez will fall into your lap, but that era of any Cuban player being undervalued is long gone. Look how much the Dodgers are paying their Cuban to play in the minors, the one who was bitten by Olivo.

 

One positive about Castillo is he has a lot of versatility, seemingly being able to play both CF and some infield as well...lots of speed and more XB but not home run pop...so inevitably some Alexei comparisons will be made since he came to the White Sox as a CF/2B.

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