Bleeding Yankee Blue: ANOTHER "CUBAN SENSATION" WE NEED TO HAVE!

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

ANOTHER "CUBAN SENSATION" WE NEED TO HAVE!

Since the 1990's, there has been a steady influx of Cuban players, defecting to the USA to try their hand in professional baseball. Many of them have been highly touted and gone on to have prominent careers. I was recently asked by Casey to do a write-up about a kid that is supposed to be the next great one.

He is a 19 year old outfielder by the name of Luis Robert.

Scouts that flock to his workouts believe Robert has the talent level to be labeled as one of the best ever. One American League scout called the 19-year-old "the best player on the planet, and that's no exaggeration", MSN writes.

Source: On Cuba Magazine

Standing at 6'3" weighing 205, Robert is said to be better than Yoenis Cespedes. He became a star player in Cuba at the age of 14, playing in the 16 and under league. At the age of 15, his first year in the under 18 league, he hit a robust.325 while leading the league with 21 stolen bases. This kid definitely has all the tools needed to make it in the MLB.

In November, Robert left Cuba and has since established residency in Haiti. He now awaits to be cleared by the commissioner so that he can become a free agent. Where he will end up and for how much could very well come down to the date he's cleared. I found some of this Baseball America piece is a little more in-depth.

"What will dictate Robert’s future goes beyond his talent. Robert left Cuba in November. Soon after his departure, MLB and the union agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that overhauled the international signing rules. The rules from the previous CBA remain in effect until the current 2016-17 international signing period ends on June 15. Until then, international amateur players like Robert are subject to bonus pools, though teams are allowed to exceed their pools and pay penalties (in both future signing restrictions and tax money), something many of them have done."

Is there any chance we could see this kid in pinstripes one day? As you know, there is always a chance when it comes to free agents and, the Yankees. The way things have been playing out in the Bronx these days though, I'm not so sure.

I was having a conversation with BYB fellow writer Dan Lucia about Luis. During our conversation, he gave me the idea of including this video of him in action. Thanks for the tip Dan. Check this out guys.

Good Luck, Luis wherever you end up.