[情報]Cuban pitcher Yunesky Maya agrees to terms with Nationals
CINCINNATI - In a move that both further validates their emerging
international scouting department and could bolster their starting rotation
this season, the Washington Nationals have agreed to terms with 28-year-old
Cuban pitcher Yunesky Maya, a baseball source confirmed.
The Nationals will make the signing official after Maya receives his working
visa and completes a physical in Washington. The agreement was first reported
by ESPN Deportes.
Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo could not confirm or deny the agreement,
but he acknowledged the Nationals have followed Maya for some time and
believes Maya, a veteran of the Cuban national team and Cuban National
Series, could be added to the Nationals rotation by the end of the season.
"We think he's capable of pitching in the major leagues very soon," Rizzo
said. "You've got an accomplished, major league-ready caliber pitcher that's
competed at the highest level."
Maya, a veteran of the Cuban National Series, was named the best right-handed
pitcher in Cuba after the 2008-2009 season - "their Cy Young," Rizzo said.
Maya throws four pitches -- a curveball, a slider, a changeup and a fastball
that zips between 89 and 92 miles per hour. Before defecting in September
2009, Maya was the ace of the Cuban National team, ahead of even Reds
prospect Aroldis Chapman.
"He's a terrific, poised, capable, major league-caliber pitcher," Rizzo said.
"Some of the most successful organizations would like to sign him and put him
directly into their rotation. We're one of them."
For an international department remade last year that is, in the words of one
Nationals employee, "still getting its feet wet," the signing represents a
significant victory. Several teams, including the Yankees, Phillies, Mets and
Red Sox, reportedly had interest in Maya.
The fallout from the scandal surrounding the prospect once known as Smiley
Gonzalez left the Nationals' international operations in shambles last year.
This winter, the Nationals hired Johnny DiPuglia away from the Boston Red Sox
and named him their international director. They opened a new academy in the
Dominican Republic.
Maya joins 32 international signings the Nationals have made this year, Rizzo
said, including reliever Rafael Martin, an American whom the Nationals signed
this February out the Mexican League. Martin has a 2.81 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP
in 51 1/3 innings for Class AA Harrisburg this season.
"We're happy with our progress," Rizzo said. "We're certainly not satisfied
yet. Like we've said many times, we've allocated a lot of resources to
personnel over there. We feel positive where our program is going. We feel
good about where we're at."
The latest step was agreeing to terms with Maya, who will turn 29 in late
August. He fled the country in September 2009 and set up residence in the
Dominican Republic, where he remains, waiting for his working visa and
pitching simulated games. After he officially signs, Maya will report to
Viera, Fla. for extended spring training so the Nationals can evaluate where
is from a physical standpoint.
The Nationals have scouted Maya for several years, Rizzo, watching him play
in various tournaments outside Cuba. Maya pitched in the World Baseball
Classic in both 2006 and 2009.
It is difficult to determine how much wear Maya has endured. The pitching
restrictions in Cuban baseball are far different - and much looser - than in
the minor leagues.
"We feel like we know him as well as anybody," Rizzo said. "He's a guy who's
pitched a lot and knows his craft. He's pitched in front of 50,000 people
before. Fifty-thousand people, when you've escaped a country, is probably not
all that intimidating."
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 114.37.46.56
推
07/21 21:30, , 1F
07/21 21:30, 1F
Nationals 近期熱門文章
10
13
PTT體育區 即時熱門文章
