12:57pm: However, Peter Gammons hears that the Red Sox offered less than $2MM for Martin (Twitter link).
THURSDAY, 12:44pm: The Red Sox offered Martin over $12MM and the Rangers topped that offer, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. Knobler hears good things about Martin from a scout whose team dropped out of the bidding.
WEDNESDAY: The Rangers are close to signing Cuban center fielder Leon'ys Martin to a Major League deal, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The 23-year-old defected from Cuba last year and hit free agency last month. If the Rangers complete the signing, Martin will start his career in the minor leagues.
Baseball America's John Manuel described Martin as a speedy outfielder who plays strong defense. He was a bench player for Cuba in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and is "considered an elite prospect," according to ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr.
Damnit. Was hoping the Jays would be able to sign him.
I know man me too but I think the Jays think they are set in the outfield for many years with Snider, Gose, and Bautista. They also have Davis and Thames.
dont forget about scotty pods haha
Gose? What has he shown other than speed to be included in any future outfield? Yes he’s fast but ask Willy Tavares if you can steal first base.
Defence. Hes still incredibly young , lots of time to develop that bat.
agreed. but he hasn’t done enough to be counted on for the future, yet .
hopefully he pans out
Give him time. Scouts were concerned when Jim Thome was in the minors because they didn’t think he could develop any power. :/ Not saying that Gose is gonna hit a lot of home runs but weird skills randomly show up in prospects.
Nice! Isn’t this guy supposed to be pretty good? Haven’t heard all that much about him.
Sounds like a good signing. He might have to replace Josh Hamilton in a couple of years if the Rangers don’t extend him when his current contract ends.
There’s no way they won’t. Hamilton and Cruz should be here until they retire.
I’d like to hope so too, but one wonders if Josh will play the market in a couple of years (which means a fight with the Yankees, who covet him) and if the Rangers will have any money left if they pursue a top starting pitcher in the next couple of years and/or if they go after Pujols.
I said the same thing about Albert Pujols. I’ll find out if I’m right at the end of the year…
And I should have a billion dollars for putting my socks on in the morning. But things don’t always work out as best case scenario do they?
Leon’ys… Aren’t apostrophes usually used for SHORTENING a name?
Craz’y world we live in.
I think I’d just call myself Le’s, since Leo is already taken.
Is leonis I dont know why MLBT.R. keeps writing it like that.
Seems like Texas with 2 billionaire owners and that huge TV deal are now going to be involved in everyone that is a legit FA…
Texas has too good of a market not to exploit it. It helps that when the new TV deal kicks in that the Astros have no rights in the state of Texas as far as blackouts go with then creating a joint network with the Rockets. The entire state of Texas on basic cable will get Rangers games on Fox SW…
It might not sound like a big deal but more people jumping on the bandwagon when the team is on the upswing will make a huge difference in the bottom line..
And I thought monopolies were illegal…
that’s what Fox Sports Houston is for.
Leony plays OF AND Second base, thats what he played in Cuba… Great defense, great speed, not a power hitter but good contact, love to steal bases
Saying that Leonis has “great defense” is kind of nice from you. I’ll say above average at most.
He uses his speed to his advantage but asides from that he is not a Gold Glove defender.
Well, whther he’s a gold glove defender more or less will depend on his bat more than his glove.
Cubans also tend to not want to take walks. Which is what you really want from a low-power, high-contact hitter
Yeah but all the scouting reports say this Cuban does like taking walks. Hope Texas signs him. He could threaten to bump Julio down or even make him a trade candidate assuming he’s ready. And even if he’s not we can get ready for an elite 24 or 25 yo CF in 2012.
Sounds like a solid move. It will be interesting to see how aggressive they are with him. The recent Cuban signings don’t seem to move through the systems as fast as they used to.
sounds like Burbons time starting is done. If this is a Major League deal he willprobably spend a week or two in the minors and come up right away. Its a good move if his Defense is as real as it sounds it makes the rangers a lot better because Julio cant seem to stay focused. Julio will now move either to the bench, the minors or traded.
This guy is a 20 or so year old prospect if I remember correctly. Lol so calm down.
He is 23 and will probably move fast, but not fast enough to put Borbon at risk for at least several months best case…
Yeah I saw that after I posted. He’s currently 22 about to be 23 (from what I read, not sure if it’s right) but we also have another young outfielder like Leon’ys in Engel Beltre. I expect this guy to begin at the same level as Beltre and I’d also expect him to be on the same expected arrival time as Beltre as well, which is 2012. That gives us an elite 25 yo starting CF to look forward to.
Assuming we do sign him of course.
For some reason different websites have a different age listed for this guy between 21 and 23 lol. I’ll just go with MLBtr on this one.
Leonys Martin: Basically, he’s Julio Borbon’s physical talent. He takes good routes. He has good arm. His fundamentals are workable, as a center fielder. He’ll move quick. Not much scouting and what I’ve absorbed, $15mm seems on the high side… this guys NOT a game changer.
His upside: more power, better swing plane than Borbon. Needs AB’s-club attention
He should sign for prox $15mm w/Rangers, with fast attention by the parent club.
I doubt hell only be in the Minors for a week or so. If he Dominates for three weeks or so and Borbon completly shits on himself then maybe.
As I have said before do not expect great defence from Leonis he has great range because of his blazing speed, but he does not judge fly balls to good and does not have good instincts in the field. I will call him above average.
Aside from that all is good. He has a great eye and patience at the plate, something very, very hard to come by from Cuba, that makes him a perfect asset for lead games off. Leonis is a superb bunt artist, and a speedy demon.
I said it before I think that he can become a Dustin Ackley with 40 more stolen bases potential and less power potential.
“Above average in the field” is what we already get with Borbon. If this guy is MLB ready, can hit for average and show smarts on the base paths, I’ll consider that a huge upgrade over Julio lol
Major league deal just means he’s on the 40 man roster. He could still be years away, even if he’s on a major league deal. Look at Iglesias, major league deal, entering his 2nd full season in the minors.
I’m pretty sure a major league deal does mean he has to be on the 40 man, he does not however have to be on the 25 man.
How’s that different from what I said?
Sorry, I guess I completely messed that one up… I thought you said he didn’t have to be on the 40 man.
No worries.
Why aren’t the Braves in on this guy? They need speed and they need a CF…sounds like a great fit.
White Sox get on this, we need someone to replace Pierre next season.
Ugh, you need someone to replace Pierre for last season. That guy is terrible.
Does he bat RH?
Don’t the Rangers already have like 4 speed guys in their organization? Geez, when are the Cardinals going to acquire a guy like this?
And don’t tell me we have Colby Rasmus. He can move to RF to accomodate a fast center fielder.
pretty sure they are saving their money up
Wow Boston offered 12M for him? Seems like teams are willing to spend huge on this guy. Wonder how good he really is/will be.
2 million
Considering the quote “if he were available in this June’s draft, he probably would have been the first position player taken” from the article and Rendon is most likely going #2…. Good Job Rangers!!!!! It is nice to have money again…
i saw him playing his rookie season in cuba and half of his 2nd season before i came to US if i had to compare him to an mlb player it would be Jacoby Ellsbury, but that was in cuba, once they come here, it is a whole new level, and so far players that were really good in cuba havent been able to do anything good here…btw his name is Leonys Martin not Leon’ys