Sources: Dodgers give Cuba's Puig $42 million

[Chrispy]

Cuban outfielder Yasiel Puig has reached agreement on a seven-year, $42 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, sources told ESPNdeportesLosAngeles.com.

The agreement is pending a physical exam, and would be the largest dollar figure accorded a Cuban defector, surpassing the four-year, $36 million deal of Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Céspedes in February.

"Puig's contract with the Dodgers should be completed by Friday. The young man could play in the major leagues this year, maybe in time to help with the race for the playoffs or the World Series," said the source, who added that the agreement includes some clauses that could permit Puig to become a free agent after his fourth year.

Under the new rules that regulate the hiring of Cuban ballplayers, upon receiving permanent residency, known as FM2 in Mexico, Puig will not need to be unblocked by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the agency of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that enforces the sanctions of the United States' embargo against Cuba.

The 21-year-old Puig batted .330 with 17 home runs, 47 RBIs and 78 runs scored in 327 at-bats with the Cienfuegos Elefantes in the 2010-11 Cuban National Series. Later, he averaged .370 in 46 at-bats in the playoffs, at barely 20 years of age.

Puig, who also was considered the fastest player in Cuban baseball, was left off the Cienfuegos team for the 2011-12 season after having been caught on several occasions trying to escape the country. He finally succeeded in defecting last month.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/...-angeles-dodgers-deal-yasiel-puig-sources-say

:wtf2: or :fap2:?

 

[Rudi]

21 years old. :lol:

 

[Tailback U]

Is this the freak who is like 6'4 220?

 

[Glenbino]

I'm waiting for Keith Law to tell me how to feel about this

 

[Villain]

[youtube]qpT5672AOa8[/youtube]

I hope they bring the announcer with him. Extra points awarded for green pants.

 

[Chrispy]

The most surprising news in the baseball world today is that the Los Angeles Dodgers havesigned Cuban outfielder Yasiel Puig to a seven-year deal worth $42 million.

This would be the most money ever given to a Cuban defector, surpassing the four-year, $36 million deal Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes received in February. It's also much more -- both in terms of overall dollars and average annual value -- than the nine-year, $30 million contract the Chicago Cubs gave to outfielder Jorge Soler earlier this month.

The impetus for these enormous deals seems to be the impending international spending cap, which will kick in this summer and allows teams to spend just $2.9 million on international free agents between July 2 of this year and July 1, 2013. This cap stands to affect Cuban players more than those from other countries as we've seen three eight-figure deals given to Cuban players in the past eight months. The cap will also make it much harder for a big-money team to swoop in and blow away the competition with an outrageous offer, which is what the Dodgers are doing here.

Based on what I've heard about Puig, this is a bizarre overreaction to the upcoming international spending cap, and a huge bet that, despite a stiff swing and less athletic body than Soler, Puig's bat is good enough to justify an investment of this size. I've also heard that Puig was badly out of shape in his recent workouts in Mexico, and that his throwing arm is not as strong since it was last seen in games. And unlike Soler or Cespedes, Puig has barely played in games outside of Cuba, so major league scouts have not had much of an opportunity to evaluate him properly.

I'm not sure what other team was willing to offer Puig anything close to what L.A. did. The Dodgers' peace dividend won't matter if they squander it on deals like this and the Andre Ethier extension.

-Keith Law

 

[Villain]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/06/dodgers-to-sign-yasel-puig.html

1:29pm: Puig can void his contract and go to arbitration once he accumulates three years of MLB service, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports (Twitter links). The outfielder's physical will take place today.

10:15am: Puig will obtain a seven-year, $42MM deal, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com reports. The Dodgers don't appear to have been the high bidder, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. They never saw Puig play in a game, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com tweets.

9:13am: The Dodgers have a history of signing and developing impact players from Latin America, but their once-impressive methods of acquiring talent faded under the ownership of Frank McCourt. Now they appear to be back at it. The Dodgers have agreed to sign 21-year-old outfielder Yasel Puig to a multiyear deal worth more than $40MM, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez reports.

The Dodgers, now under the ownership of Guggenheim Sports Management, had publicly stated their intention to bid aggressively on the best available Latin American players. Puig, a 6'3" outfielder from Cuba, fits the description. He agrees to terms two days after being granted free agency and four days before baseball's collective bargaining agreement imposes spending restrictions on teams. Starting July 2, teams will work with a $2.9MM annual budget for international prospects.

Agent Jaime Torres represents Puig, who appears to be in line for a record contract. The outfielder has two seasons of experience in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. He’s more polished than Jorge Soler of the Cubs but less seasoned than Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics, according to Sanchez. The Cubs and White Sox both appear to have expressed interest in signing Puig.

Reports on Puig have been modest, Ben Badler of Baseball America reported this week. Teams are working off of limited information, as most scouts haven't seen much of the prospect since last summer.

 

[Glenbino]

Interesting you didn't bold the next sentence in which the Dodgers admit they just gave $42 million to a guy they've never seen play.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I cant believe you guys talked me into backing Law on this one, when it turns out the Dodgers weren't even the high bidder.

Cant defend them never seeing him play, thats just mental. But fuck Keith Law.

 

[Villain]

Interesting you didn't bold the next sentence in which the Dodgers admit they just gave $42 million to a guy they've never seen play.

They've seen Ethier play and didn't mind overpaying him. :kanye:

 

[Goober]

Dodger fans: "Our team is rich as fuck! They can sign whoever they want now!"

Dodgers: "Lets sign Andre Ethier and Yasiel Puig"

Dodger fans: :denarded:

The rest of MLB: :jonesy:

What a shitty franchise.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

I'm all about spending money, especially with new ownership and a (likely) large TV deal on the horizon, but the Dodgers haven't seen him play? Seriously?

 

[Villain]

What a shitty franchise.

LOLBrewers.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

LOLBrewers.

and before he can post the other one.........

:greinke:

 

[Goober]

LOLBrewers.

Only 2.5 years left of that shit left. The Dodgers are paying this kid for the rest of the decade, lol.

It's cool that you cope with the Dodger's stupidity by trying to point out other teams mistakes. But lets not pretend that the dodgers aren't handing out terrible deals. The Dodger's front office can do no wrong mentality is kind of lame. I bet you think the two guys who beat up Bryan Stow are innocent too.

 

[Villain]

I bet you think the two guys who beat up Bryan Stow are innocent too.

Fuck you a hundred times.

 

[Villain]

VSN, I give you Carl Crawford or Andre Ethier's platoon mate from 2014 and on...

http://blog.pe.com/jim-alexander/20...rsquakes-yasiel-puig-a-bargain-at-42-million/

Dodgers/Quakes’ Yasiel Puig — a bargain at $42 million?

BY JIM ALEXANDER

RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Forget, if you can, the $42 million price tag the Dodgers slapped on Yasiel Puig, the young Cuban expatriate currently wearing a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes uniform. Given other recent expenditures by a big market franchise that’s finally acting like one, $6 million a year for seven years feels like chump change, especially if Puig is as good as the early scouting reports suggest he can be.
In fact, it’s probably just as well that Puig’s command of English is limited, albeit growing incrementally. The less he understands, the less fevered speculation he’s exposed to. Once, that speculation took the tone of “What were the Dodgers thinking?” Now, it goes along the lines of, “Could he be called up in September?”
Don’t expect it. A year’s absence from the game, courtesy of Cuban authorities reportedly fearful that Puig would defect — which he ultimately did anyway in June — has had the 6-foot-3, 215-pound outfielder playing catch-up from the time Los Angeles signed him at the end of that month, narrowly beating a deadline before limits were placed on international signings.
He had a .400 batting average and 1.500 OPS in nine games with the Dodgers’ club in the Arizona Rookie League after close to a month of extended spring training, with three triples, four home runs and 11 RBI in 30 at-bats.
He hadn’t yet lit up California League scoreboards in his first nine games in high Class A, though his numbers (.281 with a .395 on-base percentage) were respectable before he jammed his heel Wednesday night. But after missing three games, Puig was 4 for 4 in Sunday night’s 10-7 victory over San Jose with a walk, two RBI and two doubles, his first extra base hits as a Quake.
The key words here are potential and adjustment.
“He’s got a lot of tools,” Quakes manager Juan Bustabad said. “He’s got a plus arm. He’s a plus runner. He has plus power. It’s a matter of him now just playing games, getting experience as he plays more. Any time you take a year off and try to get back, it takes time.”
Bustabad told of a line drive that almost took out a pitcher’s kneecap, and another in which Puig’s bat speed was measured at 104 mph.
Those are some of the individual moments that make up the larger mosaic. Then there are the vignettes that reveal just how different this culture is from the one Puig left behind.
“We had a fireworks event at the ballpark,” said his interpreter, Roman Barinas. “He’d never seen fireworks before, so the little kid in him definitely came out.
“There are going to be things we take for granted that he’s never seen before, that catch his eye and that he’ll want to pay attention to.”
It is to Puig’s advantage that his manager understands his background more than most. Bustabad was a Cuban emigre, as well, though he and his parents came to Miami in 1965, when he was 3 and it was still early in Fidel Castro’s rule.
“The type of life you live here, compared to the type of life he was living in Cuba, those are big adjustments,” Bustabad said. “It takes time.”
Puig has picked up a little English but will do interviews for the foreseeable future in Spanish, through an interpreter. He sounds sure of himself, forceful even, in his native language. But no matter the question, the answers through Barinas usually come out blandly similar.
Although, in response to a question about how long it has taken Puig to regain his rhythm after his time off, the interpreter answered: “He’s hoping he can get ready soon and be a part of this championship run because he knows the Dodgers are going to win, and he’s looking forward to bringing a championship this year and wants to be part of it.”
Does that mean Puig thinks he could be called up in September?
“That’s too direct” a question, Barinas parried.
Ah, whatever. His time will come soon enough, and if he’s as good as the Dodgers think he’ll be a $42 million bargain.

If you haven't seen him yet, he's a monster:

 

Organizational stats so far:

87 PA, 74 AB, 29 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 7 SB, 12 BB, 14 K, .392/.483/.703, 1.185 OPS

[youtube]8B7HkjXgeBw[/youtube]

[youtube]xdUbho5QViY[/youtube]

#WhatAShittyFranchise

 

[Villain]

Vin Scully was stunned and after calling the home run was silent for quite a long time, as is his habit during big moments.

"I have learned over the years that there comes a rare and precious moment when there is nothing better than silence," Scully said upon returning his voice to air after letting the crowd's boisterous reaction do the talking.

 

[Villain]

This thread is an excellent showcase of how Goblinslayer is a bitter, unhappy prick.

 

[JimLeavy59]

This thread is an excellent showcase of how Goblinslayer is a bitter, unhappy prick.

That was well known before this thread.