Left-hander Yasmany Hernandez has left Cuba for an undisclosed third country with the goal of signing a MLB contract, per Diario De Cuba (h/t Baseball America’s Ben Badler). Badler provides a scouting report on the 23-year-old, who led Serie Nacional with a 1.66 ERA this past season. Hernandez will be exempt from international bonus restrictions after pitching five seasons in Serie Nacional, but Badler doesn’t expect teams to show as much interest in Hernandez as fellow Cubans have drawn. Here are more notes from around the game.
- Badler also recently appeared on the Providence Journal’s Super Two podcast with Tim Britton and Brian MacPherson, where he discussed new Red Sox outfielder Rusney Castillo. Badler says teams are becoming increasingly receptive to spending big money on Cuban players thanks to the successes of players like Jose Abreu and Yasiel Puig, adding that the added power Castillo demonstrated since leaving Cuba increased his value on the market.
- Free-agent-to-be Russell Martin would be a great fit for the Cubs, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Signing Martin would involve making a significant financial commitment and giving up on Welington Castillo as a starting catcher, but Martin could help mold the Cubs’ young pitching and provide a strong example for the rest of its young roster.
- The Mariners will not retain national cross-checker Butch Baccala, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports. Baccala is the scout who sent Jesus Montero ice cream during a minor league game while Montero was rehabbing, seemingly as an insult regarding Montero’s weight. Montero threw the ice cream at Baccala and was suspended.
- The Pirates had a quiet trade deadline, but they’ve had a strong second half anyway, MLB.com’s Tom Singer writes. In particular, they didn’t complete a trade for a starting pitcher and didn’t improve what appeared to be a weak bullpen. Since then, though, their bullpen has quietly become a strength, thanks in part to the emergence of John Holdzkom, and their offense has papered over any rotation issues. “You’ll get second-guessed no matter what you do,” says Bucs manager Clint Hurdle. “That’s just the nature of the world. So you gotta do what you feel in your gut is right.”
- The Rays are ready to see what they’ve got in Nick Franklin, who they’re promoting Monday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. The Rays, of course, acquired Franklin from the Mariners in the three-team deal in which they sent David Price to Detroit. Since the trade, Franklin has hit .210/.288/.290 in 113 plate appearances for Triple-A Durham, although his track record indicates he’s capable of hitting better.
- Padres assistant director of scouting operations Don Welke, who arrived recently from the Rangers organization along with new GM A.J. Preller, is enjoying his first month with San Diego, Corey Brock of MLB.com writes. Welke and other members of the Padres’ front office are currently in Arizona, where they’re watching Padres prospects play in the instructional league.
It is easy to say it could be a really bad move the Pirates didn’t do anything too. If they made a move they might win the division instead of getting to travel all the way to SF to play a play in game…or they could easily still miss out on the postseason. The Brewers are breathing down their necks and have played well recently.
you act like the pirates are not playing well,they won 8 of their last 10
I realize that but the season isn’t over and they haven’t even made the playoffs yet. Don’t you think it is a little early to call a quiet deadline a success?
what do you think now lol?
I’d agree in principle, but the problem is that there weren’t really any moves for them to make. They didn’t have the returns that Boston/TB wanted for Lester and Price and there weren’t any available hitters. They’re not a perfect team, but the deadline is difficult with the added second wild card.
Because TB wanted MLB-ready controllable players, Price would have cost them Marte or Polanco AND two top prospects at minimum. One could argue about whether Polanco would’ve been expendable, but Marte would’ve been a significant loss, potentially more so than the A’s losing Cespedes or the Tigers losing Jackson.
One could also argue that if the Cards hadn’t “upgraded” to Masterson, they’d have already clinched the division.
Hard to make black and white assertions on the effects of making a deal or not.
I agree. I think they should have made a move if there was one to make. But there wasn’t and that’s not really their fault.
Big fan of Martin on a deal similar to one he’s on now. Wouldn’t be upset with a 3rd year either.
Sure, but that is a dream. He will get significantly more than that and I wouldn’t be surprised at a 3 year +option or 4 year deal for him as the starting point. But in the end I just don’t think Martin will be that huge of an improvement (given the cost) over Castillo. If you can move Castillo for pitching, this move makes more sense. But Castillo as a backup for Martin when he may only add a little more value, more if you assume he will “mold” the young staff, just doesn’t seem worth the money when you could keep Castillo in the lineup and use the Martin money for pitching instead. Veteran pitching will not come cheap this offseason.
If Martin were to sign elsewhere, Castillo (along with Avila) would be one of my top targets to transition to Elias Diaz.
That said, the offer the Bucs make to Martin will be the most highly scrutinized and controversial contract offer in the history of the Pirates franchise, dwarfing anything they’ve passed up at the deadline this year or not re-signing AJ Burnett or Byrd. If the Bucs don’t retain Martin or at least make an extremely aggressive offer, there will be significant negative fan reaction.
There shouldn’t be a significant negative reaction. I like Russell Martin. He’s a great fit for the Pirates or most any other team in terms of the player that he is. However:
1. It’s going to take AT LEAST $10MM AAV to secure him, and that’s probably the low end. On the Pirates’ $72MM opening day payroll (a record high incidentally), that’s 14% of their payroll tied up in Martin.
2. Catchers aren’t every-day players. Martin hasn’t played more than 133 games since 2009. Assuming he plays every game the rest of this year, his time in Pittsburgh will average 120 games or 73% of a season. Is that the best place to lock up that level of cash for a small-payroll team?
3. With the above, he’s also 31 so his playing time isn’t likely to be increasing. Plus, it’s likely going to take at least 3 years to make the deal. Again, it’s a big risk with the money for a team like Pittsburgh. With a handful of notable exceptions, catchers don’t tend to be noted for their longevity — it’s a brutal position.
Haha, that’s a fun story bro. Think Brian McCann’s contract
Russell Martin at 5/85? Yeah, have fun with that.
Called it
The Pittsburgh Pirates fanbase had waited over 20 years for management to field a minimally competitive team, and they were continually disappointed. Russell Martin could easily be the team MVP, and he deserves to be compensated as one. Pirate management has the opportunity to show this fanbase that they will not be complacent in presenting a competitive contract to Martin, even if it translates into a slight overpay. Memories are still jaded as memories of the Pirates’ cost conscious ownership groups having allowed the best players walk without any real effort exerted to re-sign them (including Bonds, Bonilla, Van Slyke, Drabek, Aramis Ramirez, etc.).