First reported Saturday by El Nuevo Herald, it’s been confirmed to me by major league sources that high-profile Cuban defectors LHP Noel Arguelles and SS Jose Iglesias have been declared free agents by Major League Baseball. That being said, it’s very unlikely that they will be signing soon. Here’s what has happened so far:
1. OFAC (in the U.S. Treasury Department) has signed off on Arguelles and Iglesias being allowed to work for an American company; that they won’t funnel money to Cuba, etc.
2. As current residents of the Dominican Republic, Major League Baseball has declared the players free agents, eligible to sign with any big league organization. Technically, they were eligible to be signed sometime late on Friday, when teams were notified.
So, both players could have signed as early as Friday, but are still unsigned. Is their agent, Jaime Torres, just negotiating? He may be, but there’s still more work to be done.
Each individual club is responsible (with the cooperation of MLB) for performing background checks to verify the ages of both players. The process of doing these background checks will take at least a few weeks. No club will sign the players without their ages verified, so it will likely be at least a few weeks until they sign with a major league organization. The U.S. government also hasn’t completed their full process yet. The signing big league team(s) will need to request work visas and the FBI, among other governmental agencies, still stand between the players and an American baseball career.
Arguelles and Iglesias both have long track records of competing in international tournaments and that has teams more comfortable with their ages than previous Cuban defectors. Despite the long-term familiarity clubs have with them, there are still whispers about both Iglesias and Arguelles being older than their stated ages of 19. A Torres client who lacked a long international track record, CF Felix Perez, had a contract with the Yankees, including a bonus of over $3 million, voided after it was revealed that he was in fact 4-5 years older than the 20-year-old he claimed to be. Perez was suspended for one year and that will presumably be the punishment if Arguelles or Iglesias falsify their ages.
Arguelles is considered a better prospect than Iglesias, as a left hander standing 6’3, tipping the scales at 210 lbs., and hitting 93 mph with his fastball. Arguelles has a solid curveball, changeup, and command, along with a recently-added slider that some scouts say has quickly become his best off-speed pitch. Some scouts saw him sitting at 88 mph recently and said Arguelles was out of shape, but other clubs have recently watched him hit 91 mph and say his body isn’t a big concern. Every team I’ve spoken with is comfortable with his talent, given his consistent international performances. Executives agree that Arguelles would have been a late first rounder or sandwich pick in the recent draft, if he entered the draft rather than become a free agent.
Iglesias has a similarly strong tournament record, drawing attention for his flashy glovework at shortstop, with one scout grading his fielding as an 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. His arm is enough to stick at shortstop, but his range is somewhat limited by his fringe-average speed. Iglesias makes the most of his ability, with instincts that enhance his tools and excellent makeup. He bats from the right side and while his overall offensive package leaves a bit to be desired, most scouts agree Iglesias will hit enough to allow him to profile as a big league regular. He has decent pop in his 5’10 frame, at a maxed-out 180 lbs., though he can get pull-happy at times. An international scouting director called Iglesias’ total package, “Ryan Theriot with better hands.” Iglesias is a defensive-oriented overachiever and executives say he would be more of a 2nd-3rd rounder if eligible for the recent draft.
A number of teams are interested in Arguelles and Iglesias, but one team is mentioned by every international source I’ve spoken with: the Yankees. Seemingly since the players defected, nearly a year ago while at a Canadian tournament, the players have been tied to the Yankees and many believe they will both end up signing with the Bombers. It won’t be easy for the Yankees, though; expect the other big market clubs and organizations with active Latin operations to enter the fray as well. It’s too early to handicap all the teams that could be involved, but the Cubs are one team that has been mentioned as heavily interested in Iglesias. As a potential late first round pick (if subject to the recent draft), Arguelles would command a bonus of about $1.0-1.3 million, while Iglesias’ 2nd-3rd round projection correlates to a $500,000-$750,000 potential bonus. That being said, Cuban players tend to have their own pay scale, independent of 16-year-old international free agents or domestic draftees, due to the amount of high-level game experience and the refinement most defectors possess. Some sources have suggested the ultimate pay days for these players could be twice or even three times the slot bonuses I’ve suggested.
My wife had to jump through hoops and live here for a substantial period of time before they'd grant her a work permit; and that was only because we wed. Does anyone here have any expertise on how these guys get work authorization so easily? This is upsetting.
It wasn't easily; they defected last July and submitted the paperwork many months ago. Teams were complaining about how long it was taking. I thought they wouldn't be declared FA's for another month or two, because I heard the gov't had to finish with them (FBI, Homeland, etc.) before they would be declared free agents.
I'm not positive, but I think they do qualify for something like that, but it's a wide definition, along with performers of any sort and I think professors as well. The players didn't appear to get any special consideration in this case.
Standard immigration paper work has, iirc, 5 classes. This is based on memory from when I did it. e-1 is for Nobel laureates and people that special in their field. e-2 is for distinguished experts, professors, and that sort of thing. e-3 is for degreed professionals, engineers, and the sort (this is the common one for computer programmers). e-4 is for average joes. e-5 is for people with no skills (think bottom rung political refugee types).
This is separate from things like having US family members. The processing time varied depending on your class with e-1 being very quick and e-3 being quite slow (~7 years from me).
Why was Perez's contract voided when MLB players with age issues like Miguel Tejada was not voided? What were the grounds/justificatons that were applicable in one case and not the other?
I don't know this to be the case, but I suspect that Tejada's status as an MLBPA member probably had something to do with it. Assuming Perez did not sign a Major League contract, he would not be a member of the Union and would not have the same sort of contract protection that a Union member would. Consequently, his contract could contain a provision addressing this sort of situation whereas the contract of a Union member like Tejada would not (or would not be valid because it was violative of the terms of the CBA).
Paul is correct, but you also have to follow the money. For a couple reasons, almost all Latin signees don't get their full bonuses right at signing, so there's a due diligence period where the team doesn't pay out a dime (or only a portion) if they catch the player. Or they verbally agree to a deal, and the contract is produced after a background check.
If you catch the guy 10 years later, not only are they contributing to the big league team, but there's the PR hit, the MLBPA, and even PECOTA will tell you it isn't a HUGE difference if its just a year or two.
Well, Tejada was traded to the Astros one day before the Mitchell Report came out in 2007. In 2008, it turned out he was two years older than previously thought. I'm not sure if there would've been as bad of a PR hit if his contract had been voided or if the trade had been nullified.
"Torres said that he is soon going to submit to MLB a request for free agency for high profile clients RHP Yadel Marti and OF Yasser Gomez, both of whom were All Stars in Cuba. Marti starred in the 2006 WBC for Cuba where he was 1-0 and did not allow a run in 12 2/3 innings. Both players defected from Cuba more than six months ago."
omehwta related question - during the 2009 WBC I found http://www.beisbolcubano.cu, and was checking out league stats. Since then, it appears to be blocked. I can get a page with today's date from the Google cache, but not a direct link.
Just now, when checking the url, I see a different address http://beisbolcubano.cubasi.cu/ that I had not seen befor, that has similar content.
Kiley, I posted this question somewhere else, but I'll post it again here... Where would Arguelles and Iglesias rank with the July 2nd guys? I know these guys are older, but im curious to see where you would rank them...
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Why were they so easily granted work permits?
My wife had to jump through hoops and live here for a substantial period of time before they'd grant her a work permit; and that was only because we wed. Does anyone here have any expertise on how these guys get work authorization so easily? This is upsetting.
It wasn't easily; they defected last July and submitted the paperwork many months ago. Teams were complaining about how long it was taking. I thought they wouldn't be declared FA's for another month or two, because I heard the gov't had to finish with them (FBI, Homeland, etc.) before they would be declared free agents.