The Cubs have reached agreement with Cuban outfield prospect Eddy Julio Martinez, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports on Twitter. He’ll receive the $3MM bonus that he was reportedly seeking.
Martinez, 20, had been said to be in agreement with the Giants earlier in the week. The $2.5MM deal was said to be complete pending only a physical, with San Francisco GM Bobby Evans acknowledging it to the press. But things fell apart, apparently for financial reasons, as Sanchez reported that that the youngster was looking for a $3MM bonus.
Chicago swooped in to meet that asking price, adding him to an already-loaded class of international signings. The Cubs, like the Giants had previously committed to spending well past their overall pool allocation, meaning that they were already set to face a two-year ban on $300K+ signings. Adding Martinez did nothing to impact that, though the club will pay a 100% overage tax on his bonus.
We’ve heard some varying opinions on Martinez’s outlook over the last several months, but all agree that he is a legitimate prospect with a good hit tool and excellent speed. The questions are about his power potential and ability to handle center field in the long run. Read more on the BHSC client from Sanchez and Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription required and recommended).
i think it’s safe to say it’s been a good week for Cubs fans now
The more I’ve thought about this, I’ve wondered… if this kid is so good, why weren’t more teams willing to spend on him? The Dodgers threw away Mat Latos and Michael Morse for more money…
International market limitations always matter, especially for a guy like him who is not part of the main July 2 crop. There are a bunch of other possible factors that have written about — none terribly concrete, so we haven’t covered them in great detail.
But yeah, it’s also a reflection of his perceived value. I don’t think he’s ever been viewed as Moncada 2.0 or anything.
Embarrassing way for the Giants to start their offseason.
Embarrassing? How? The kid verbally agrees to the deal, then backs out when he (or his dad) thinks they can get more. Says more about the kid and dad for bad negotiating than the Giants for expressing their optimism over what is usually a done deal. Kudos to them for not overspending to “save face”. Good luck to the Cubs, but it’s not like he’s a sure thing.
More likely that the buscone wasn’t happy with his cut…
I think that there might have been some tampering here, given how fast things turned around. If the Cubs had been willing to pay $3M all this time, why didn’t they have the deal pre-announced and not the Giants?
Seems that this se
Seems that this sequence seems likely:
Giants and agent come to agreement on amount, after a lot of good faith negotiations, need to hash out terms, then physical.
Giants deal and amount gets leaked, probably by agent.
Cubs see that, and having sat on their hands up to now, decided that they could beat that and somehow lets the agent know that they would offer $3M.
Agent stalls and do things to get the Giants agreement ended, announces wanting $3M.
Cubs officially offers $3M and now suddenly there’s an agreement and only a physical is needed.
Tampering is the only thing that makes sense here. There was all that time, if the Cubs really were offering that all along, the Giants agreement would not have been leaked first, the Cubs would have signed him conditional on a physical, much like this announcement, with no Giants mention at all, other than perhaps that the Cubs beat out the Giants with a final bid.
Whatever, there has to be good reasons why a guy who was projected to get $11M only got $3M in the end. There are obviously issues about him sticking in CF, and with no power potential, makes him a tweener OF, not good enough to play CF, but not enough power to take a corner spot.
Typical Giants news… always the bridesmaid when it comes to signing players
Will he be considered their CF of the future? It seems like Almora may be better defensively but Martinez has a better bat. Or will Martinez move to LF and Schwarber to C once Montero leaves?
A guy of this age and pedigree isn’t really factoring into plans at the MLB level right now.
I should have clarified, I meant to question whether they are going to bridge to him until he becomes their starting CF in a few years, or if he’s just another OF prospect to be worked in at some point, if that makes sense.
i think the answer to that is ‘they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it’. Martinez is probably headed to A-ball next season, which puts him a good 2 seasons at best behind Almora, who’s still a good 2 seasons away from the majors himself.
A lot can happen between then and now, so right now Martinez is just another option down the road.
Seconded.
The latter. I’m not sure what kind of draft value this guy would theoretically have, but my sense is that he’s much more “kinda interesting prep guy taken 40th overall” than “advanced college hitter with outstanding skills.”
Never say never with the Cubs the youth is are silver lining
I wonder when they alter the signing process for these guys. Seems like the same few teams every year that overspend and take on the tax.
This is where I think an international draft would fit in. Throw these guys into the draft to give everyone a chance to get them.
The way it is set up is once a team goes over the limit that are set for the International signings a team may not sign a international player for over 300,000 for the next 2 years.The Cubs will not be able to spend more then 300 G per International players now for the next 2 years. It is as if they are telling you to wild every 3 years. So you don’t really see the same teams every year. The Cubs did this the first year this was set up and had to pay the price for the last 2 years.
Cubs already weren’t, nor were the Giants. They simply have to pay a 100% tax on any signing over 300K
If he’s really good I think the Cubs realize by now if a player good he don’t have to ride the minors doing there best years- E.J.Martinez will be up in two year hope he gets a invite to spring training this spring