The Dodgers have released right-hander Yaisel Sierra, as first reported by Francys Romero of Las Mayores (Twitter link). He’d been pitching with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City.
While Sierra may not be a recognizable name for some, he was at one point a highly sought-after international free agent. Sierra defected from Cuba in 2015 and established residency in the Dominican Republic, at which point he was declared an international free agent. Because of his professional experience in Cuba, he was exempt from international bonus pools and able to sign with the highest bidder. Both the Cubs and Marlins were reported to have made offers, but the Dodgers landed Sierra by signing him to a six-year, $30MM Major League contract in Feb. 2016.
Obviously, that deal looks regrettable in retrospect. The now-30-year-old Sierra has yet to pitch in the Majors and has scarcely pitched above the Double-A level. He tossed 16 1/3 innings with the OKC Dodgers this season but was clobbered for 25 runs on 36 hits (six homers) and 12 walks. Sierra did punch out 18 batters in that time, but he also threw a staggering 11 wild pitches in those 16 1/3 frames. Overall, he has an 8.36 ERA in 37 2/3 Triple-A innings and a 5.43 ERA in just 179 total minor league innings.
Sierra was just one of many high-profile Cuban defectors to sign large deals with the Dodgers as they flexed their financial might in what was, at the time, a far less-restricted international market. While clubs still had international bonus pools for international amateurs, the penalties for exceeding those pools was a dollar-for-dollar tax and a temporary ban on signing players for more than $300K in subsequent international periods. The qualifications for a player to be considered a professional rather than an amateur were also less stringent than they are presently, which was important in the case of players like Sierra due to the fact that professional players are exempt from bonus pools (hence his Major League deal and $30MM guarantee).
Sierra, Yadier Alvarez, Hector Olivera, Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arruebarrena, Yusniel Diaz and Yasiel Puig all agreed to signing bonuses or Major League contracts that promised them $15MM or more with the Dodgers, who came away with little to show for that spending spree. Puig, of course, paid dividends as the team’s primary right fielder for several years. Diaz was the centerpiece of the trade that netted the Dodgers Manny Machado back in 2018. The rest of that pricey group, however, hasn’t panned out in the manner the Dodgers hoped.
The Dodgers certainly weren’t the only team spending aggressively in this arena, but they definitely led the charge, likely contributing to the much more restrictive guidelines for international free agents in the 2017-21 collective bargaining agreement. Currently, players must have at least six years of professional experience and be at least 25 years of age to be exempt from international bonus pools. Further, bonus pools for amateur signings are now hard-capped.
Additional changes to international free agency has been an oft-discussed topic in recent years. Talk of an international draft hasn’t been as prominent of late given the other topics expected to be on the table in this offseason’s collective bargaining negotiations, but it’s certainly still possible that we’ll see some alterations to the regulations regarding teams’ paths to talent acquisition on the international market once a new CBA has been finalized.
Wonder if he will do the same as Arruebarrena did, he got his money from the Dodgers and went back to Cuba and is playing in the Cuban league again.
That was a Ned Colletti signing, and he just wasn’t a good player. And if I recall correctly, he had attitude problems in the minors.
He was on the restricted list for awhile, but I don’t recall the reason.
He was a problem child. He did not want to follow basic Dodger organization rules. He started a big fight between his team, the Albuquerque Isotopes, and the Reno Aces, which I believe was the A’s AAA team.
He also started other fights, so many that his teammates didn’t even come out of the dugout and bullpen to help him the last time he began a brawl. That has to be the only time that has ever happened anywhere!
Two out of his last three years in the organization, the Dodgers didn’t assign him to a minor league team until late in the season, and then, he was sent to the Arizona Instructional League. I guess the Dodgers minor league teams didn’t want him on their rosters.
With his reputation damaged, he couldn’t find a job in any other MLB organization, or in Japan, Korea, not even in Mexico. This is why he became the first Cuban refugee player to return to Cuba to play. I wonder if the Cuban government took his MLB money away, or if he had already blown it all by then.
He is certainly one of the Dodgers biggest busts of all time.
Bauerrrrr
Definitely a finalist for that dubious distinction. Some of these Cuban players have a hard time adjusting to life elsewhere.
February 21 2016, not February 2021.
Agh, thank you for pointing that out. Updated.
It’s ok we still love you Steve
I’m confused. He signed this past February? Maybe a typo
yeah looks like a typo – was feb 21 2016 that he completed signing
mlbtraderumors.com/2016/02/dodgers-nearing-deal-wi…
Ugh, he signed on Feb. 21, 2016. My brain somehow convoluted that to “Feb. 2021,” Apologies on the typo. It’s been corrected.
I remember when Alex Guerrero got part of his ear bit off by a teammate.
By Miguel Olivo, during a game no less. He was released by the Dodgers and then signed with… the Giants. Fortunately never made it back to the majors and the ear-biting was an isolated incident. As far as we know.
Another in a long line of failed Dodger signings out of Cuba. The Dodgers seem to strike gold in Japan and strike out in Cuba
Dodgers went Dominican heavy to Cuba and now to Venezuela. Cuba seems to have been a failure. Puig had some initial success, and I thought Alex Guerrero would somehow stick as a 2B. Decent bat with good pop, but I guess no glove. His bat alone could have been worth it. Seems like he was given a quick hook and the fight in AAA where part of his ear was bitten off didn’t help. Never recovered after he was sent down to the minors and had a couple of productive seasons in Japan.
Still remember his encounter with Madison Bumgarner. Guerrero had homered off of Bumgarner. A week later he faced Bumgarner and popped up, did a weird 360 in disgust and angry at himself, he dropped his bat. Bumgarner the sensitive douchebag that he is got upset and started angrily yelling at him, “You’re not that good, man. You’re not that f’ing good.” Hilarious. First time I’ve seen a pitcher upset at a hitter for being angry at himself. How dare those batters!!
Bumgarner hasn’t been that good ever since he left the Giants…
Meh. They did this spree solely because the rules were changing. Of the 6, one had multiple all star appearances and another was the headliner for a deadline deal. Guerrero and Arrubarrena also at least made the bigs. So 4/6 impacted the big league team in some way. Was it worth the 150M they spent? No.
Did it hinder anything with the major league team? No
Not really sure they struck out
Their true new scouting honey hole is Venezuela, not Japan. They’ve Signed the top Venezuelan guy last 3 periods
What was Sierra’s SIERA?
@Captain, My Captain
It told the Dodgers to say: Sayonara
Counts possibly be any worse than Miguel Gonzalez the Phillies signed
This was like taking 30 million and setting it on fire
The Dodgers ended up paying a big part of Olivera’s contract and gave up some prospects to get him off the roster, and also they had to absorb the big dead contract of Bronson Arroyo to move him, so it would take some fancy math of find some return.
I’d have to take another look at that trade but on the face of it I’m not sure anything was got for him really once the Arroyo contract was factored in. If they’d just released Olivera and not taken on the dead Arroyo contract it probably works out about the same.
Juan Uribe, now there’s a name from the past. He had some moments for sure.
Blue the Padres ending up paying something like 30 million and the Dodgers paid Arroyo something like 15 million if baseball reference is accurate. But they did take on the Latos contract too I believe,
Nope I was wrong it appears the Marlins paid his contract.
One of the more complicated trades of all time. Officially three-way but effectively four-way since the Dodgers flipped Mike Morse the next day. You’d need a forensic audit to figure out who got what out of it.
I could be wrong, but wasn’t Julio Urias signed on the same trip that brought Yasiel Puig? And speaking of Puig, his trade to the Reds brought them Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray. I know there were other players involved but Downs was part of what brought Betts to LA, and Gray was a part of what brought Scherzer and Trea Turner to LA. So in a sense you can say that the Puig signing is still paying dividends.
Yup even with Puig at home playing video games.
Puig plays for El Aguila de veracruz, he had no choice as no MLB team would sign him as long as his sexual assault allegation is not cleared.
I didn’t know he was playing in independent ball in Mexico, but as far as allegations are concerned, they can’t be “cleared” if they are never actually made.
Nope! He is from Mexico.
Cuban players have to establish residency in a third country before they can become eligible for U.S. work visas. In Puig’s case, that county was Mexico. He lived there for quite awhile, close to a year I believe. So it may well be correct that he and Urias were signed on the same scouting trip.
It was Julio Urias and Victor Gonzalez who were signed on the same scouting trip to Mexico.
Both discovered by accidental they were looking at someone else iirc
Hope it’s in a lot of small bills to keel the fire going. I got a lot of marshmallows to make smores this holiday weekend.