Yasiel Balaguer, 18-Year-Old Cuban Baseball Defector, Trying Out for Seattle Mariners

According to his agents, 18-year-old Cuban baseball prodigy Yasiel Balaguer will have his second tryout with a Major League Team this week when scouts for the Seattle Mariners watch the right-handed pelotero in action here in Miami.

"I was on the Cuban youth national team, but I realized that once I made it to the national team I'd still be a nobody," Balaguer told Riptide last week. "My mother, who came here with me, and I decided that I should come to the best league in the world to help my family."

CORRECTION/UPDATE:

An earlier version of this post misidentified the MLB team with which Balaguer was scheduled to try out. A meeting with the Seattle Mariners was rained out.

At over six feet, Balaguer looks and swings a bit like a young Andruw Jones. Like Jones, he's an athletic centerfielder known primarily for his defense. He arrived in Miami in late November after leaving his home near Havana and traveling to Mexico.

As with many Cuban peloteros who make it to the US, there are already wildly differing scouting reports on Balaguer. The Herald has called him "one of the biggest promising stars of Cuban baseball," but Baseball America said he was merely "solid" and boasted "average tools."

Balaguer's agent, Carlos Pérez of Miami Sports Consulting, says he expects Balaguer to sign a deal in the region of $18-20 million this spring.

In addition to the try out scheduled with the Mariners, Balaguer already took hitting and fielding practice for the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

One place Balaguer is unlikely to end up is here in Miami with the Marlins. Pérez says the Marlins haven't taken an interest in Cuban ball players recently, which is surprising given that the new stadium will be smack dab in Little Havana.

"It's incredible," Pérez says. "The Marlins are the only team in the past three years that hasn't taken a single Florida player."

Who knows? Maybe that will finally change with Balaguer.

Luis castillo RHP

Luis Castillo agrees to terms with the D'Backs

Luis Castillo is 16 years old and becomes the latest Dominican Prospect League player to reach an agreement with a MLB organization. Although Castillo was not a DPL All-Star participant, his 6’3 175lb frame and easy delivery didn’t go unnoticed. The right hander is from Cotui, Dominican Republic the same town as ML hurler Ramon Ortiz. His FB velocity is 84-87mph with good rotation and command of Curveball, and a chance to have a plus Change-up. Luis had been in the capital city of Santo Domingo for the past year developing his arm strength and pitching abilities with the tutelage of notable trainer Josue Herrera. Castillo has agreed to terms for $80,000 to become a D’Back. Congratulations to Luis Castillo, Josue Herrera and The Arizona Diamond Backs.

Guillermo Heredia

"My passion for baseball I owe to my father." Guillermo Heredia

He bats right and throws left. Guillermo Heredia is one of the Cuban players who has progressed from one year to the next. He is only 21 years of age and has three national baseball series titles.

He is fast and explosive and shows good movement. He also has a powerful and accurate arm which makes him a very complete outfielder. He is hitting over 350, with six homers and five triples, leading league in runs scored. His performance led to him to be selected to the All-Star game and some believe that the boy has many more.

Guillermo is a quiet and modest athlete. In the field looks like a carbon copy of the image and character of his father, who was a member the 80's Matanzas.

"My passion for baseball I owe to my father, who has always been very aware of my development and always advises me to keep the discipline. "

In your first two campaigns you were a switch hitter, now you do it just right. Why?

"It's simple. I feel more comfortable hitting on the right. I'm not a natural switch-hitter, left-handed I dabbled in the category 15-16. Anyway, Victor Mesa insists that I try to switch again next year. "

Based on your speed and youth, should you not be a better base stealer?

"Of that I am convinced, but it is something that needs much training, do not make a good stealer. In addition to my current abilities, one must learn to take the time to dominate the details. "

Guillermo is a quiet boy, with the virtue of being liked. So he is well liked by his neighbors in Versailles, in the city of Matanzas, where he lives together with his parents, grandmother, sister and niece.

Dreaming of joining the Cuba national team?

"That would be a good thing, but for now I only think about it. Right now I work hard to help the Matanzas".

According to information from the National Baseball League, Yulieski Gourriel may not participate in the All-Star XXV, nor the pitcher Robelio Villa Clara Carrillo, wounded in one leg. His place is taken by teammate Freddy Asiel Alvarez, who had finished seventh among starters in the popular vote.

I'm surprised Gourriel hasn't defected. Pretty good ball player.

Dominican Prospect League Elite Travel Team

The Dominican Prospect League is proud to announce the DPL Elite Travel Team will tour MLB spring Training once again in 2012. Based on the successful trip we had in 2011 with players the likes of Ronald Guzman-TEX, Dawel Lugo-TOR, Franmil Reyes-SD and Dioscar Romero-BOS to name a few, all of which signed significant contracts with their respective teams, we decided to add 2 solid rosters to this years trip. A selected group of DPL Prospects will work out and play games at different MLB facilities in Florida and Arizona during March 10th- 21st. Perfect-Game has once again lined up games with Canada’s Langley Blaze and Ontario Blue Jays during our tour. The 2012 DPL Elite Travel Team roster and schedule will be posted soon.

Three key players during the first half of the season. From left to right RHP from Artemisa Yadier Pedroso, leader in SO of the season, Granma's outfielder Alfredo Despaigne who is leading the season in HRs, RBIs and Slugging Percentage, and RHP Ismel Jiménez from Sancti Spíritus, who leads the tournament in wins.

Cuban Baseball League at Mid-Season

By Daniel de Malas

Febrero 14, 2012


The curtain fell this week on the first half of the 2011-2012 Cuban Baseball Season, without a doubt one of the most competitive of all time in Cuba. Here’s a look at some of the best and worst of each team after 48 games played.

The close races in both the Eastern and Western Divisions have 13 teams within 9.5 games of the team with the most wins. Thus at this point it’s far too risky to predict which will be the eight teams (four in each division) that will make the playoffs.

The well attended stadiums testify to the fans enthusiasm. In Las Tunas, for example, 29,500 fans showed up for their three game series against Industriales at the beginning of this week. In the capital, the Latinoamericano stadium has hosted 337,718 fans in 26 games, which should easily surpass a half million in the regular season and maybe reach seven figures if Industriales makes the playoffs.

Statistics at the half way point

Villa Clara is the team with the most wins (31-16) while Isla de la Juventud has the worst record at (15-33). The team with the best record at home is Las Tunas (17-7) while Granma is tops on the road with an identical (17-7).

Villa Clara leads in team batting (.309) and in pitching (3.17 ERA), they also lead in doubles. Artemisa pitchers lead in strikeouts with (.338) but are worst hitters (.231). Isla de la Juventud has the highest team ERA, a whopping (5.80) and is the team with the least amount of home runs with 12.

Matanzas and Metropolitanos are the best defensive teams with a (.983) and (.981) percentage respectively. Industriales leads in runs scored with 296 (6.2 per game) as well as in slugging (.479) and in On-base plus slugging at (.873).

The stats show how Lazaro Vargas’s Industriales (leaders in the West) are playing for the hit; they’ve only bunted for a sacrifice four times.

The following is the best and worst team-by-team during the first half of the season.

Artemisa (17-30): Yadier Pedroso (6-4, 2.77 ERA and 89 strikeouts) and Jose Angel Garcia (0-0, 1.78 ERA, 36 K) are the standouts. Meanwhile, Jonder Martinez (1-7, 5.29, 48) and Yulieski Gonzalez (3-6, 4.87, 46) have been way below par. This team has no batter whose stats are worth mentioning.

Camaguey (19-29): Catcher Lednier Ricardo (.359, 3 HR and 17 RBIs) and shortstop Alexander Ayala (.351, 8, 28) are the top hitters. On the mound, Vicyoandry Odelin (3-3, 4.12, 30) is having a mediocre season as is outfielder Dariel Alvarez (.265, 4, 22).

Ciego de Avila (28-21): The team started off with quiet bats except for Rusney Castillo (.333, 12 HR, 45 RBIs) as slugger Yoelvis Fiss is only (.218, 3, 10). Lefty Maikel Folch was given his walking papers leaving Vladimir Garcia (5-5, 2.39, 70) and Yadir Rabi (2-3, 2.89, 18) to head the staff.

Cienfuegos (25-23): Forget about the 13 saves by Duniel Ibarra (0-4, 4.18, 19) as he is having his worst season, since a reliever with those stats and who opposing batters hit for .331, can’t be given much credit. Norberto Gonzalez (6-3, 3.42, 36) is once again the ace of the staff. Jose Dariel Abreu (.359, 15, 43) and Yoelvis Leyva (.353, 0, 25) lead the Elephants in hitting.

Granma (25-23): Alfredo Despaigne is entering into the discussion of who is the best batter in Cuban history. He is having another big season (.340, 20, 55), with a good chance to break the lead records for homeruns and RBIs (33 and 111). Yordanis Samon (.337, 5, 37) is another standout batter for Granma. The return of pitcher Ciro Silvino Licea (3-1, 4.85, 14) hasn’t been as hoped, while Alberto Soto (6-5, 4.27, 47) also had a mediocre first half.

Guantanamo (24-24): Giorvis Duvergel (.259, 6, 27) is not the mainstay as in other years and Dalier Hinojosa (3-3, 5.35, 39) is also having a poor season and the team’s pitching problems cannot be resolved only by Jose Luis Moulin (3-4, 2.70, 29) and Frank Navarro (5-6, 4-07, 42).

Holguin (25-23): Pablo Millan Fernandez (5-2, 1.44, 36) is the league leader at this moment and has fooled batters of all teams. Raimar Navarro (6-3, 3.38, 33) is also having a big season. The batters are led by Yordan Manduley (.407, 2, 27) and Yeison Pacheco (.330, 7, 26).

Isla de la Juventud (15-33): Michel Enriquez (278, 2, 13) has only played in 16 games on a team where Luis Castro (302, 3, 20) is the only player over .300. Wilber Perez (1-8, 5.20, 65) and Carlos Manuel Puente (0-8, 8.13, 8) are a burden for a pitching staff that only has one star, Danni Aguilera (3-3, 1.93, 22).

Industriales (29-18): The big blue team leads the West thanks to the bats of Rudy Reyes (.354, 5, 32), Serguey Perez (.326, 8, 37), Irait Chirino (.354, 4, 32) and Alexander Malleta (.289, 10, 45) while Lisban Correa (.305, 11, 36) has taken over the starting catcher position from Frank Camilo Morejon (.250, 0, 2). Nonetheless the only pitcher having an exceptional season is Odrisamer Despaigne (7-3, 1.96, 79).

Las Tunas (28-19): is led by a trio of pitchers, Yoelkis Cruz (8-3, 3.21, 55), Dael Mejias (68-19-4, 3.43, 25) and Yudiel Rodriguez (6-3, 3.64, 44) and with the bats of Daniel Castro (.345, 8, 40) and Alexander Guerrero (.289, 9, 26) managed to finish the first half of the season in second place in the East.

Matanzas (27-20): after leading the better part of the season fell to second place. They are led by Jose Miguel Fernandez (.381, 5, 24) and Guillermo Heredia (.348, 5, 22) and pitchers Jorge Alberto Martinez (5-1, 1.60, 43) Yohan Hernandez (8-1, 3.00, 38) and Felix Fuentes (1-3, 1.67, 18). Another factor that could help the team make it to the playoffs is the return of veteran Yoandy Garlobo, (.385, 2,6) in his first 10 games.

Mayabeque (16-31): Is led by Ernesto Molinet (.368, 5, 19) and Ariel Miranda (2-5, 2.60, 44) with not much more to report.

Metropolitanos (22-26): has excellent fielding and is led by Roberto Carlos Ramirez (.376, 3, 32), Stayler Hernandez (.312, 8, 31) and Jorge Luis Barcelan (.312, 8, 29), but in general has a weak pitching staff, with the only bright spot being Maikel Hidalgo (3-1, 2.95, 14).

Pinar del Rio (25-24): Vladimir Baños (7-3, 2.78, 55) and Julio Alfredo Martinez (4-5, 2.96, 41) have kept the team afloat, but last year’s league champs need more than the bats of Yosvani Peraza (.323, 13, 30) and Lorenzo Quintana (.315, 3, 22).

Santiago de Cuba (26-18): The aging Santiago continues to shine, this time led by Hector Olivera (.306, 14, 29), Edilse Silva (.337, 10, 40), Alexei Bell (.310, 8, 28) and Rolando Meriño (285, 8, 31). The pitching staff is led by Yaumier Sanchez (5-1, 1.73, 38) and Danny Betancourt (5-3, 2.89, 42).

Sancti Spiritus (22-26): The saying that Sancti Spiritus “always starts off poorly”, could also end poorly. As usual the productive offense is led by the bats of Yulieski Gourriel (.302, 14, 47), Frederich Cepeda (.305, 7, 31), Yunier Mendoza (.360, 3, 26) and Yenier Bello (.282, 9, 31). The other bright spot is the exceptional year of Ismel Jimenez (9-3, 2.66, 75). However the pitiful defense (they lead the league in errors with 67) and other game factors are not delivering the wins.

Villa Clara (31-16): has a team superior to that in several years, backed by the solid pitching of Alain Sanchez (5-0, 1.66, 36), Robelio Carrillo (5-2, 2.10, 26), Yasmani Hernandez (3-0, 2.91, 24), Freddy Asiel Alvarez (4-2, 2-93, 28) and Yolexis Ulacia (3-0, 2.91, 24). At the plate, Andy Zamora (.388, 2, 22) is having a great year as are Aledmis Diaz (,385, 6, 26), Ariel Borrero (.364, 2, 25) and Yuniet Perez (.343, 4, 31). VC shapes up as the toughest team in the league, at least on paper.

All Star Game (February 19)

Hats off to the idea for the fans voting for the players on the All Star teams, showing that if it’s the fans who decide many names will be forgotten while new ones will be born.

It has been a season with a lot of home team support for each squad, especially from Matanzas fans who are deserving of being the host of this year’s All Star Game. Another positive factor has been the day’s rest between series that has benefitted the front line pitchers who have contributed more to their teams.

The worst was some of the selections for the All Star Game beginning with the omission of Alexander Malleta (much better than Molinet and Mendoza), the inclusion of Ediasbel Arruebarruena (Cienfuegos) (.259, 2, 7), inferior to Orlando Acebey (Sancti Spiritus) (.284, 2, 14), Yamil Rivalta (Industriales) (.316, 0, 9), Luis Alberto Valdez (Pinar del Rio) (.259, 2, 9) or Michael Gonzalez (Mayabeque) (.260, 1, 18) and the most ridiculous idea proposing Frank Madam (Camaguey) as the starting pitcher for the East since he has not started in any of the 18 games in which he has pitched.

And to end I’ll comment on the specialization of the pitchers. Only three teams had four starters that only served in that roll while five teams had three starters and the rest (9 teams) didn’t have more than two pitchers that haven’t been used as relievers. Granma is the extreme with only Ciro Silvino being used exclusively as a starter.

NPB Bullet Points: Spring Training Notes

While pitchers and catchers are just now showing up to MLB camps, NPB spring training has been in full swing for a couple of weeks. Here’s a collection of random news stories from around the league.

Alex Ramirez spent about twenty minutes asking Kiyoshi Nakahata for permission to become Yuki Yoshimura's sole coach on Thursday. Ramirez wants to make things easier for Yoshimura by limiting the number of coaches giving him advice. Nakahata apparently agreed to the request.

Yakult Swallows offseason boils down to this: Norichika Aoki out, Lastings Milledge in. In fulfilling Norichika Aoki’s long held wish and sending him to MLB via the posting system, Yakult waved good by to one of the statistically best hitters in team history, but a guy who’s OPS fell from .944 to .718 with the introduction of the new ball. Milledge might not take over center, but he’ll step in to an outfield spot left open by Aoki and should bring a bit more power, a bit less contact, and a bit less defensive prowess.

Chunichi has signed outfielder Victor Diaz, who had been in camp with the team on a try out basis. Diaz has MLB experience with the Mets and Rangers and played in Mexico last season.

Sumo wrestler Hakuho spent a day in camp with Yomiuri.

Hanshin righty Randy Messenger tweeted about a soba restaurant he enjoyed.

Japan newcomers Scott Mathieson and John Bowker got to try eel.

Tomoaki Kanemoto took 152 swings during extra batting practice. Many of the batted balls were between left and center -- according to Sanspo, he did not try to pull the ball until after his 136th swing.

Jason Standridge faced eleven batters during situational batting practice and did not allow a hit.

Kazuhito Futagami threw 135 pitches in the bullpen.

1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura threw 112 pitches in the bullpen. It was his second session in as many days.

When he is aggressive at home plate Frederich Cepeda is by far the best hitter of Cuba (Photo: Juan Moreno Hernandez)

Cuban all star game Sunday Feb. 19

LINE UP OCCIDENTAL

1. Irait Chirino (rf)
2. Guillermo Heredia (cf)
3. Frederich Cepeda (LF)
4. José Dariel Abreu (1b)
5. Yulieski Gourriel (3b)
6. Yosvani Peraza (R)
7. Serguei Pérez (bd)
8. José Miguel Fernández (2b)
9. Roberto Carlos Ramírez (ss)

LINE UP ORIENTAL

1. Yordan Manduley (ss)
2. Héctor Olivera (2b)
3. Rusney Castillo (cf)
4. Alfredo Despaigne (lf)
5. Ariel Borrero (1b)
6. Isaac Martínez (bd)
7. Andy Zamora (rf)
8. Yosvani Alarcón (r)
9. Yeniet Pérez (3b)

The just completed the Skills Drills and the home run Derby.

Centerfielder, Guillermo Heredia won the home to first speed contest (second home to home).

Centerfielder, Guillermo Heredia won the Accuracy/Strongest arm contest (straightaway center to home 365ft)

Catcher, Yosvani Alarcon won the home to home speed contest.

Catcher, Yosvani Alarcon won the home to second accuracy contest.

Correa won the home run contest.

The veteran's game is in progress. These guys are not playing like retired veterans. This looks like a regular season, standard game speed production.

House is nearly at capacity.

Fun Stuff.

Well, for a retired veteran's game, I expected to see lob pitching and a lot of jogging. Quite the opposite. Fast pitching, breaking balls, game speed baseball.

Half and Half........many of these players stayed in pretty good shape, many have not been strangers to the dinner table.

Were you keeping an eye on former elite Tribe prospect Jim Ed Warden who I discover was busy this winter?

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.js ... pid=450348