The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have declared Oscar Colas a free agent, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (Twitter links). The move ends months of controversy between the club, Nippon Professional Baseball, and Colas’ representatives over amount of team control the Hawks held over Colas as per the terms of his original contract.
The next step for Colas is an application for MLB free agency. Once this is granted, Colas will be eligible to be signed under standard international signing rules, and will in all likelihood be available when the next int’l signing window opens on January 15. As a reminder, this is the 2020-21 window that would have normally began last July 2, except the signing period was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sanchez writes that Colas’ representatives are already working to arrange a scouting showcase for their client, a 22-year-old who holds some potential as a two-way player. Colas’ official pitching experience is limited to 3 1/3 innings in the Serie Nacional (Cuba’s top league) during the 2018-19 season, though he is said to possess a fastball that can hit 95mph.
There is much more data on Colas as a batter, as he hit .305/.381/.487 over 273 plate appearances in the Serie Nacional, and then posted an .825 OPS over 21 PA for the Hawks in 2019. (Colas also hit well for the Hawks’ minor league squad in the Western League.) In the field, Colas has played both first base and as a corner outfielder during his brief pro career.
Assuming no snags in his paperwork and clearances, Colas is a very intriguing entry into the 2020-21 international signing market. Many teams have already committed large chunks of their int’l signing pools to other players, so the market for Colas may be determined by how much remaining pool space certain teams have available. Pool funds also cannot be traded during this year’s signing period.
Can’t trade slots this year or next
Whoever gets him will win the series
White Sox!!
Cuban connection!
Can’t get all the appealing players from Cuba, but it is certainly a targeted niche they have carved out to at least be in the running when available $$ are close vs others.
Agreed I can’t think of many other teams off the top of my head with that kind of niche. Astros and Jays with the Gurriels. The Gurriel family is quite popular in Cuba but CWS definitely seems intriguing.
Sox maybe have $5.8 Mil pool money.
Hope that’s enough to get the “Cuban Ohtani”!
Nope, most teams have spent the money for this particular signing period. White Sox are one of a few teams that have money left, somewhere in the range of $2.2M. The Sox have been tied to him for a while. Most of the early video on him showed him as somewhat rotund. More recent video shows he got himself into tremendous shape. His Instagram also has some hints that he is still tied to the White Sox.
I doubt the Sox view him as a pitcher and would develop him as an OF and specifically Right Field.
I see a potential sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola in Oscar Colas’s future.
I prefer RC Colas….but
what was the reason for limiting pool trading anyway?
Some teams were foolish enough to not spend all their international money, where return on investment is very high.
Sox will now complete the value meal, with Jake Burger, Jace Fry, and Oscar Colas.
i was looking for the same thing. Didn’t have a lot of luck with it.