[BA]Angels Sign Cuban Star Morales
Angels Sign Cuban Star Morales
By Alan Matthews
December 1, 2004
The long-awaited signing of Cuban sensation Kendry Morales neared
finalization when the Angels and Morales agreed to terms on a
six-year deal. The agreement was conditional on clearance from the
U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The deal reportedly included a $3 million signing bonus and could be
worth as much as $10 million including incentives.
Morales, 21, is a switch-hitting outfielder who has been considered
the best post-revolution Cuban position prospect to defect.
"He's a middle-of-the-order hitter that's getting ready to play in
the big leagues," Angels scouting director Eddie Bane said. "He's on
the big league roster going into (spring) camp with a chance to win
(an Opening Day) job."
Morales, 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, has power from both sides of the
plate, is an above-average defender with solid-average arm strength
and fringe-average speed. He has advanced instincts and a good feel
for the game. He profiles as a corner outfielder, but has also played
first and third base.
Morales built his legacy as a teenager on Cuba's 16-and-under youth
national team and 18-and-under junior national team, where Angels
international scouting supervisor Clay Daniel first scouted him.
In 2003, Morales batted cleanup for the Cuban national team in the
World Cup in Havana. His grand slam helped secure Cuba's 6-3 victory
over Taiwan in the finals, and he also homered versus Brazil to give
Cuba a dramatic comeback win during the medal round. He batted
.391-9-42 that year for Industrialists in Cuba's Serie Nacional
(national league). In 2002, at the age of 19, he was the first
teenager to star for Cuba's national team since Omar Linares.
Unlike Linares, Morales defected from Cuba in June and eventually
established residency in the Dominican Republic, allowing him to
negotiate as a free agent. He had been banned from baseball in Cuba
after failed attempts to leave the country; in fact, Morales was sent
back to Cuba from the November 2003 Olympic qualifying tournament in
Panama after making contact with an agent.
Daniel, along with international scout Jeff Schugel, had film footage
and reports on Morales going back to 1999. Daniel and Bane spent five
days with Morales at the Angels Dominican Academy in October, staying
at a hotel in San Pedro with Morales and even dining with him.
"He's good enough to play (in the majors) now," Bane said. "It's all
the other things he has to overcome that have to be considered. The
hardships with learning English and the culture shock of being a
major league player, while it's a lot different than it once was, are
still things that he has to deal with."
Other Cuban players have struggled with those issues after defecting.
The list of Cuban success stories doesn急 extend far beyond the
brothers Hernandez, Orlando and Livan. High-priced flops such as Jose
Contreras, Jorge Toca, Rolando Arrojo and Andy Morales are more the
rule than the exception. Those failures, however, helped make
Morales?pricetag reasonable for the Angels.
One of Morales' agents, John Mano, said his client signed with the
Angels over two other clubs--believed to be the Mets and
Yankees--because the Angels offered the best opportunity to play in
the big leagues right away.
Bane said Morales performed well in workouts with several clubs in
the Dominican, including the Yankees, when he singled, doubled and
tripled in an instructional league game. However, Morales was
ambivalent about his standing with the Yankees following the workout.
"He didn't know how he did," Bane said. "It bothered him when he left
there not knowing what they thought of him, is what he conveyed to
us," Bane said.
He made his debut Wednesday with Estrellas of the Dominican Winter
League in a 13-6 loss to Licey, going 1-for-4 with an RBI single as
the DH.
--
If you're not have fun in baseball,
you miss the point of everything.
--
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