OAKLAND, Calif. – Yoenis Cespedes can’t think right away of a major leaguer who compares to Jose Dariel Abreu, his former national squad teammate and the latest baseball star to defect from Cuba.
But as the Oakland Athletics outfielder and Home Run Derby champion describes Abreu, the image of American League MVP Miguel Cabrera comes to mind.
Like Cabrera, Abreu was a shortstop as a youngster before outgrowing the position and moving to third base and the outfield, eventually landing at first base (Cabrera has played outfield, first base and now third). And like Cabrera, Abreu can spray line drives and majestic blasts to all fields.
“If he had just a tad more speed, he would be a complete player,” said Cespedes, pointing out Abreu runs well for his size but is not a burner. “Of the five tools, he’s got four. He’s a good fielder, and he can hit for average and power.”
Abreu, a power-hitting first baseman who was a teammate of Yasiel Puig on the Cienfuegos team, is believed to be in Haiti as he begins the process of making himself available to major league teams.
Once he establishes residency outside the United States, he is declared a free agent by MLB and cleared by the Office of Foreign Assets Control – which may take months. Abreu is expected to be the object of a bidding war perhaps unlike any other previously seen for a Cuban player.
The biggest contract signed by a Cuban defector so far is the seven-year, $42-million deal Puig got from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Along with Cespedes, he’s the biggest name to leave Cuba,” said Cuban baseball expert and author Peter Bjarkman. “He must look at what Puig got and think, ‘He was just a young prospect. I’m a superstar.’”
Abreu, 26, twice came close to winning the triple crown in the Cuban National Series, a feat never accomplished in the league’s half-century history. The season after Cespedes set a league record with 33 home runs, Abreu blasted 35.
“So you can imagine what kind of hitter he is,” Cespedes said.
Abreu was the starting first baseman and fifth-place hitter for the Cuban national team and batted .360 with three homers and nine runs batted in in six games during this year’s World Baseball Classic.
Even though he’s listed as 6-2 and 258 pounds on the WBC roster, Cespedes and Bjarkman said Abreu is closer to 6-4 or 6-5 – and athletic.
“If Puig is built like a linebacker, Abreu looks like a tight end,” Bjarkman said. “He’s got as much potential as anybody to come out of Cuba.”
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