The Cuban Muscle Situation
By Fred Owens
Dairon Varona
That’s not to say the Braves won’t be involved on very good players. Ten days ago they were among a cluster of teams who attended a workout by Dairon Varona. According to a report from Keith Law on ESPN (Insider Subscription required) scouts “from almost all MLB clubs” attended. Varona defected nearly a year ago and worked his way through the political maze necessary to play here. In that link there’s a video of part of the workout.
According to Obstructed View who also provided the comp chart below, Varona’s a 5’9” , 170lb centerfielder with okay but not great offensive numbers who would likely start at AAA.
| Yr | Age | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | OPS+ | BB% | K% | lgBB% | lgK% | |
| Dairon Varona | 11-13 | 22-24 | 914 | .305 | .369 | .450 | .144 | 113 | 6.6 | 14.4 | 9.4 | 11.6 |
| Dariel Alvarez | 10-12 | 22-24 | 1020 | .307 | .359 | .488 | .181 | 108 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 9.5 | 11.7 |
| Rusney Castillo | 09-11 | 22-24 | 556 | .322 | .369 | .518 | .196 | 112 | 4.1 | 12.8 | 9.7 | 11.4 |
| Yoenis Cespedes | 08-10 | 22-24 | 1182 | .317 | .393 | .589 | .272 | 137 | 9.9 | 11.4 | 9.9 | 12.2 |
That post suggests Varona and Alvarez who signed with the Orioles in 2013, were comparable bats while Varona was a better defender. Here are Alvarez’ stats since signing with the O’s.
| Year | Tm | Lev | G | PA | AB | R | H | HR | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 3 Teams | A+-AA-Rk | 22 | 83 | 79 | 9 | 27 | 4 | 11 | .342 | .373 | .570 | .943 |
| 2013 | Orioles | Rk | 3 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | .444 | .500 | 1.222 | 1.722 |
| 2013 | Frederick | A+ | 10 | 41 | 39 | 5 | 17 | 2 | 1 | .436 | .463 | .641 | 1.104 |
| 2013 | Bowie | AA | 9 | 32 | 31 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 9 | .194 | .219 | .290 | .509 |
| 2014 | 2 Teams | AA-AAA | 135 | 564 | 532 | 75 | 163 | 15 | 62 | .306 | .330 | .472 | .802 |
| 2014 | Bowie | AA | 91 | 381 | 359 | 52 | 111 | 14 | 35 | .309 | .332 | .487 | .819 |
| 2014 | Norfolk | AAA | 44 | 183 | 173 | 23 | 52 | 1 | 27 | .301 | .328 | .439 | .767 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 1/22/2015.
Varona does appear to be pretty quick.
Law’s scouting report from the workout suggested that he agrees Varona will need time in AAA to work on his s swing before dealing with major league pitching. While the Obstructed View report suggested that because Alvarez’ signing for an $800K bonus was a precursor of what Varona would cost Law suggests that a shortage of players like him might drive the price up quite a bit.
"“I think he’ll end up close to eight figures as a potential big league backup. . and the fact that the Cuban market is so overheated right now — it’s almost like every team has to have one, just to say they do — can only help him."