Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechevarria is now free to sign with any team, tweets ESPN's Jorge Arangure. His agent, Bart Hernandez, says that he's been "unblocked" by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, giving him the freedom to sign.
Bidding for the 19-year-old could go as high as eight figures, more than the $8.2MM the Red Sox gave Jose Iglesias earlier this winter. The Angels and Blue Jays reportedly have some interest in Hechevarria, but Arangure adds in a second tweet that the Cubs and Yankees have shown heavy interest. However, Hernandez says that his client will not hold any more showcases, and is ready to begin the signing process (link goes to Arangure's Twitter).
Hernandez also says that righthander Reinier Roibal has also been unblocked, according to Arangure (link goes to Twitter).
I’m going to take the Blue Jays on this one.
Given the fact that the Jays really haven’t had a shortstop since the first Alex Gonzalez, I’d hope they make a strong push for this kid.
Agreed.
Something tells me the bidding for Hechevaria will get intense. Obviously not Chapman-level, but for a highly-touted prospect at a position it seems like every team is struggling to fill in their systems, I bet Adeiny gets paid well. Go Jays!
I think it should be added that this could be a battle of the small market teams again. I could see the Orioles, Blue Jays, Mariners, A’s, Royals, and Diamondbacks competing for this Hechevarria.
And Reds. I’ll just throw them in there after they lynched the other bidders on Chapman, out of nowhere.
Good point. Really good point. Also put the Pirates in as well.
Neal, Neal, Neal, Neal!
This has Yankees written all over it. He is 19, lets say Jeter plays 5-6 More years, this kid will be turning 25 and be ready to really play (if he pans out).
I can see the yankees getting in on this, there’s really no long term ss in their system. They’re going to start looking for a replacement for Jeter soon anyway, so they might as well start with a big prospect.
How far away is this guy from being major league ready?
…and why doesn’t MLB have a system which requires these guys to enter their names in the draft…?
Because they already played in a league. It’s not like the kids that need to go to college.
I wouldn’t discount the Cubs here. For one, they love middle infielders and do a better job scouting those players than any other position. Secondly, they’ve been determined this offseason to be a player in Cuba and finally broke through recently and got themselves a pitcher. And they were really in on Iglesias. There were rumors out there that they actually outbid the Red Sox. I don’t see any reason they won’t pursue this guy aggressively as well- especially if it’s true they’ve already shown “heavy” interest.
That would give the Cubs insane depth in their system at shortstop.
It’d be crazy. You’ve already got Theriot at the MLB level. At the minors you’ve got Castro (#1 ), Hak Ju Lee (#6), Watkins (#7), Flaherty (#9), LeMahieu (#10) and Barney (#18) all as top 20 prospects (per BA) who can play SS. Of course, not all of them will stay there. Shortstops are usually good athletes and can switch positions. Some, like Watkins and Flaherty, already have switched. Some can be used in trades, there’s always a demand for SS out there. It’s a nice problem to have.
Castro at 2B, Hechevarria at SS, and Lee at CF… Or vise versa with Hech and Lee. Wow that would be sick. I think Lee is gonna be a really good player, I’m expecting big things from him in high A ball this year
Is this guy better than Iglesias?
He’s considered by some to be the best Cuban SS prospect. When they played together on the Cuban Junior National Team in 2007, it was Iglesias who had to move to 2b. He also has more power than Iglesias. I expect that Hechevarria will get an even bigger deal than Iglesias got.
Hope the Giants make a run at him. They could use all the hitting prospects they can get.