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July 23, 2013Cleveland Browns news and notes with offensive coordinator Norv Turner
July 23, 2013The Cleveland Indians have reportedly agreed to terms with the 19-year-old Cuban right-hander Leandro Linares. Ben Badler of Baseball America reports that the deal is for a bonus of $950,000.
Linares, whom MLB.com refers to as a “phenom”, has been one of the top pitching prospects who has been subject to the international bonus pool, having a fastball in the mid-90s and a curveball that clocks in roughly 20 fewer miles-per-hour. At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Linares already comes equipped with solid size to go along with his pedigree. Per Badler, Linares posted a 1.91 ERA in with 76 strikeouts in 66 innings for Cuba’s 18-and-under national team. There have, however, been concerns regarding his control.
Recall, the new collective bargaining agreement for Major League Baseball includes new items with regard to the signing of international players. Because Linares is younger than 23 years old and hasn’t played in a Cuban professional league for at least three years, the funds for his signing must come out of the Indians’ international bonus pool. Cleveland began the 2013-14 signing period with a pool of $3.64 million (based on last season’s record) and has previously signed Dominican shortstop Willy Castro for $850,000 and outfielder Junior Soto for $600,000.
If the Indians spend over their allotted amount, they will be subject to tax of at least 75 percent and the loss of potential lucrative bonuses in subsequent seasons.
[Related: Mariners 2, Indians 1: Is team streak headed south again?]
10 Comments
Phenom is a nice word. So is this guy gunna be legit? Like is this just a nothing signing or is he one of our top prospects now? Same for the Taiwanese ss?
Go over to “let’s go tribe”. They have a continually running post called “prospects that matter” and objectively inform you who to follow in the minors and when to pay attention to them based on age, level, and performance. Really good stuff
Hard for me to call a teenager a with control issues a phenom. If he was a teenager with control then maybe that’d be different. However I think all of us male teenagers have dealt with control problems from time to time right?
Bauer was once a teenager with control issues…
Bauer was once a teenager with control issues…
Another power arm. This latest iteration of Tribe farmers sure love them power arms. Jeremy Sowers, we hardly knew ye.
Josh Tomlin line 2.
now he’s a 22 year old with control issues
tell him tommy’s in the john
On second though, lets see his birth certificate. I remember going down this road once before…