The Rangers are expected to sign Cuban outfielder Leonys Martin today for a signing bonus in the neighborhood of $15MM, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Martin, who will receive a 40-man roster spot, took his physical yesterday. Grant believes Martin could become a Major League option at some point this season.
The 23-year-old outfielder became a free agent last month after defecting from Cuba last year and establishing residency in Mexico. Back in September, Baseball America's John Manuel wrote that Martin's "best tools are his speed and defense." ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. tweeted in March that Martin is "considered an elite prospect."
🙁
Signed,
All 29 other teams
More seriously – without knowing the exact details – seems like a very exciting player, and even that $12M price-tag floated last week seems very reasonable.
Good deal…now get him up to speed in a month in Round Rock and get him to Arlington to replace Josh who is now going to be out for 2 freaking months. 🙁 Too bad Martin is another lefty…the Rangers lineup is really short on right-handed hitting.
I don’t know where that rumor got started. I saw Evan Grant write the same thing. Kinsler, Beltre, Cruz, Young, Napoli, Andrus, Torrealba … all right-handed. The only thing the Rangers lack is a righty to platoon with Murphy in left. And that’s nitpicking.
The real problem is that Josh Hamilton is pretty much the only big power threat coming from the left side. It becomes glaring when he gets hurt. We’ll see if Chris Davis can help fill that void this time.
Julio Borbon’s replacement? I think so. I’m glad to be a Rangers fan. Even when Hamilton goes down, we can still count on a guy of Murphy’s caliber to step up and make it seem like nothing’s even happened. And when Martin replaces the ultimate rally killer (Borbon), that’ll be a good day.
Have to wonder if the Rangers will look to move Borbon sometime this year. Is he really as bad as you say? I remember serious buzz about him after 2009.
He has zero discipline with the bat, minimal base running skills (even with his great speed), and while he is a pretty good outfielder, he makes too many mental mistakes and has a below average arm. If he could find someone to get his head in the game, and someone to help him hit the ball hard on the ground (instead of weakly in the air to left field), then he could be a very solid CF.
If Martin is really good enough to get 15 mill off the bat, then I think Texas should trade Borbon, Davis, and pitching prospects for a guy like Josh Johnson (not saying Florida would do it, just a suggestion for some of you out there).
He is a very sollid CF and with some playing time could be an elite defensive CF before the end of the season. Borbon’s problem has always been that he does not take enough pitches or walk at all.
The mental mistakes you talk of are a direct response to the pressure put on this young players shoulders by fans and media dissecting every play he makes and claims that he is far inferior to David Murphy. And while I love me some Murphy in the lineup, at best he wont hurt you in LF and at worst he is a liability in CF, average in LF who will only get worse with age(as he is already as “heady” a player as you can find). I love Murph as a fourth OF and/or DH, but he would just be a good ML player in his prime, while Borbon has the ability to be ELITE defensively, if given time and confidence. Rangers don’t need another bat at the expense of defense. They need a top defense to let their runs count for something. I feel like the comparison of Borbon to Murph is the same as the comparison of Beltre to Young, only while I felt betrayed by the possibility of letting Young go, Borbon is a homegrown guy and is the right man for the job.
Saying all this, Martin seems like a potential STUD and could be the leadoff guy we have been looking for. If he is as smart with the bat as they say, we could place him leadoff, move Kins down to 2nd, and finally have Elvis in the 9th spot he deserves. All around win. Hope we just don’t overpay as Cuban players are nowhere near sure things.
I disagree. Borbon is awful at the plate (bad plate vision, minimal power and decent contact at best right now). He is a pathetic base runner for someone of his speed, or most any other speed for that matter. He gets picked off too much and gets caught stealing because of bad jumps. As for his defense, he’s average at best. He has range and makes good plays but more often than not he takes bad routes to the bad, makes bad throwing decisions and has a terrible arm. He is an average player at best and I don’t see him getting much better.
What happened to the apostrophe in this dude’s name? Did we decide on that?
Legal name change? Lol
kendry’s morales borrowed it
I actually wonder if this impacts Engel Beltre more than Borbon. Beltre has some trade value and if Cruz is signed to an extension Beltre has no place to play.
Borbon is at best a fourth outfielder, and I would not be surprised to see him optioned down to AAA at some point.
One of either Hamilton or Cruz (given their age and injury issues) will most likely be moved to DH if Martin and Beltre are as good as we are expecting. Borbon should have a ton of trade value being a 24 yo with good potential and already some MLB success. So hopefully Borbon can draw interest in a package for an ace pitcher, if needed.
Yeah looks more like Hunter is a loose part/trade bait every day. Also, looks less and less likely that we will shell out major money for CJ this off-season, which will make me sad, along with what i feel would be a poor baseball decision if we let him walk. He is a leader in the clubhouse and keeps our guys healthy by forcing his healthy eating habits on the club. Underrated benefits like leadership and cohesion are what separates a good team on the scorecard from a good team on the diamond. That said, CJ should be paid like a third pitcher with the Rangers having leeway to pay up to a No. 2 starter based on his track record w/ the club and his leadership and fan support.
Looks super smart to me. If he managed anywhere near a .982 OPS before the age of 23 in Cuba, I would think he would have a pretty decent shot at averaging at least an .850 OPS over his career in MLB, maybe more. And for $15 million!? That sounds like a steal.
Ranger fans should be very impressed and pleased with their front office. What an outfield! Cruz, Hamilton, and this guy! Wow! Kudos to your front office.
of all the cuban players mlb teams signed in the last two years(almost 20 players) just three of them have played in the majors Chapman, Viciedo(just some games), and Maya and he was awful, i dont expect a lot more from this guy Leonys Martin knowing that Juan Carlos Linares , Jose Julio Ruiz and Leslie Anderson were stars in cuba and they are still playing in the minors here.
Just out of curiosity, do you know what kind of OPS they managed in Cuba? And do you know how it translated in their cases into MLB stats? (10% less, 20% less, etc.?)