Headlines

  • Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.
  • Braves Designate Craig Kimbrel For Assignment
  • Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Braves Select Craig Kimbrel
  • Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox
  • White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Henry Quintero

MLB Declares Luis Yander La O, Three Others Free Agents

By Steve Adams | January 28, 2016 at 6:43pm CDT

Major League Baseball has declared four Cuban players — third baseman/second baseman Luis Yander La O, third baseman Henry Quintero, shortstop Anibal Sierra and catcher Oscar Valdes — as free agents, making each free to sign with any club, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (Twitter link) and Baseball Essential’s Robert Murray (who first tweeted that Sierra was a free agent).

La O, 24, is the most notable of the bunch. The third baseman turned 24 this past December and has six years of professional experience in Cuba, thereby making him exempt from Major League Baseball’s international bonus pool system. He’s free to sign with any club at any time and is near MLB-ready, according to summer reports from Baseball America’s Ben Badler, who noted that La O could probably jump directly into a Triple-A lineup.

La O is a lifetime .329/.388/.406 hitter in Serie Nacional in 1338 plate appearances. He’s homered just nine times in his Cuban career but also has displayed an uncanny knack for making contact — striking out in just five percent of his career plate appearances (as compared to a seven percent walk rate). La O has also stolen 57 bases in that time, although he went just 11-for-23 in his final Cuban season. Per Badler, some scouts are concerned about his lack of power and question how much he’ll hit in the Majors. Badler did call him an above-average defender at third base with plus or better arm strength but a low throwing slot that leads to inaccuracy at times. Badler also praised La O’s instincts at second base and feels that he can “absolutely” play the position in the Majors, though he noted that La O is inexperienced there and showed as much when turning double plays.

Considerably less is known about Sierra (22), Quintero (22) or Valdez (23), each of whom has been absent from lists of top Cuban prospects. Badler briefly mentioned Sierra when profiling Hector Olivera a year ago (the two were double play partners in Cuba), calling him a light-hitting shortstop with a good glove. Indeed, Sierra has batted just .238/.307/.298 in 91 games/175 plate appearances across parts of three seasons in Cuba. It would stand to reason that he’d need considerable time in the minor leagues, though his glove could have appeal to Major League scouts, it would seem. As for Quintero, he’s a .223/.274/.325 hitter in an even smaller sample of 181 professional plate appearances in Cuba. Valdez has only 59 professional plate appearances, per Baseball-Reference, having batted .200/.345/.244 in 59 plate appearances. (Of course, all of those numbers exclude international tournaments and other venues in which scouts would have the opportunity to see them in game situations). All three are subject to international spending limitations.

Share 13 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Uncategorized Anibal Sierra Henry Quintero Luis Yander La O Camacho

1 comment
Show all

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Braves Designate Craig Kimbrel For Assignment

    Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Select Craig Kimbrel

    Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox

    White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel

    Sign Up For Trade Rumors Front Office Now And Lock In Savings!

    Pablo Lopez To Miss Multiple Months With Teres Major Strain

    MLB To Propose Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge System For 2026

    Giants Designate LaMonte Wade Jr., Sign Dominic Smith

    Reds Sign Wade Miley, Place Hunter Greene On Injured List

    Padres Interested In Jarren Duran

    Royals Promote Jac Caglianone

    Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: May Edition

    Evan Phillips To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    AJ Smith-Shawver Diagnosed With Torn UCL

    Reds Trade Alexis Díaz To Dodgers

    Rockies Sign Orlando Arcia

    Ronel Blanco To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Recent

    Poll: What Will The Rangers Do At The Deadline?

    Mets Select Justin Garza

    Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: Today At 2pm CT

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    Latest On Dodgers’ Rotation

    The Opener: Phillies, Wade, Perez, Dodgers, Padres

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Blue Jays Notes: Scherzer, Varsho, Francis

    Pirates Reportedly Receiving Interest In Isiah Kiner-Falefa

    Angels Sign Ben Gamel To Minor League Deal

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Nolan Arenado Rumors
    • Dylan Cease Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Marcus Stroman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2024-25 Offseason Outlook Series
    • 2025 Arbitration Projections
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version