Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Tryout Coming Soon for an Interesting Cuban Teen
Even as players and executive representatives of Major League Baseball were making the round in Cuba last week, columnist Bob Nightengale introduced us to a new Cuban kid who soon looks to be ready to make a splash in the United States.
Imagine a 6’2″/205 16-year-old with speed (6.5 in the 60 yard dash), a muscular build, and baseball tools. All of them.
Lazaro Armenteros is his name, and he’s the newest prize to come out of Cuba… literally. That’s one name he’ll be known by. While most of us didn’t know he existed, it turns out that the insiders of the baseball world were already well acquianted with the teenager. “Lazarito” is what they call him.
In 10 days, major league clubs – probably all of them – will get a first-hand look at Lazaro in the Dominican Republic at an open tryout/showcase event that’s pretty much all about him. There’s not a consensus yet on where he might play on the diamond, but it seems that any corner position – infield or outfield – would be in play.
Yes, he’s 16. Yes, he’s a raw talent. But Nightengale says that the scouts are raving him already, using comps such as “Bo Jackson“, “Willie Mays“, “Yasiel Puig“, and terms like “frontline star”.
Unfortunately, it would seem that such praise has gotten back to Lazaro. There already exists a trademarked ‘Lazarito‘ logo and other marketing plans are in place as well.
You can even be forgiven if that single-name “Lazarito” label sounds a little Ichiro-esque: seems that a Japanese-league team concurs as they have a standing offer of $15 million to bring him to Japan. But that’s not his goal, according to an mlb.com story from Chad Thordburg. It the US major leagues.
Ah, but the money. Here’s where things get a bit complicated.
Where Things Stand
The big question is “when?” – as in when can teams start lining up to sign Armenteros. The rules that are currently in place require that international players register with the league office by May 15 if they wish to be considered for signing during the next year’s signing period, which begins July 2nd. Armenteros did not do so. Ordinarily, that means he would have to wait until the July 2016 signing period begins.
However, MLB has allowed exemptions to this rule in the past – 12 of them, and 3 this year. Exemptions are considered on a case-by-case basis, and generally seem to require that the rules were broken through no fault of the player.
Whether an exemption will be granted to Armenteros may be determined by the end of January, and could hinge on how MLB feels about his circumstances while he was bouncing from country to country in the process of getting settled(?) after defecting from Cuba.
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