Jan

2

The world's greatest sporting gimmick ever is fast approaching as well: The World Baseball Classic.

I found it surprisingly enjoyable last time around, but this year, I'm very curious to see what will happen with Cuba and one of its best players. There is a wealth of talent rising there, evident by the success of Aroldis Chapman and Yeonis Cespedes. As Cuba continues to be closed off, scouts are chirping over a first baseman who could be one of the best power hitters on the planet. He'll be showcasing over in Japan on March 2.

His name is Jose Abreu, and here are his staggering numbers from the 2010-2011 season…

.453 batting average; .597 on-base percentage; .986 slugging percentage. 33 homers and 93 runs batted in 212 at-bats. Granted, playing in Cuba is similar to High-A ball in Carolina, but the numbers are still remarkable and there is a lot of variance in the amount of talent on his team Serie Nacional - a team whose games MLB scouts can't even get close to. Given that he's 25, it appears it's unlikely he'd ever make the MLB jump… but Cespedes jumped at 26.

Last season, Abreu hit .394 with a league record 35 home runs (90 game season). He's appears to have more power than Yeonis Cespedes, who was team Cuba's centerfielder in 2009… but he doesn't seem to run as well (Abreu has Gus Triandos speed). He also leads the league in intentional walks and finds himself hit by pitches very often (both numbers above 20-25 for the season).

I'll be interesting to see if he can outpace Cespedes, who hit .458/.480/1.000 with a double, 3 triples, 2 home runs, five runs and five RBI in six games in the tournament in 2009. Cespedes then defected in 2011, and now plays with the A's with a very impressive rookie campaign this year.

An interview with Oakland scouts I read last year said they were doing everything they could to scout Abreu. So I have to ask why Cuba would even take the chance by putting this level of talent on the roster… The country lost two players in 2009. It's likely that more will defect when Cuba finds itself on US soil for the final rounds.

But then again, it's Cuba, and he could actually be 35 for all we know. Livan Hernandez is supposedly two months younger than Derek Jeter, but he looks old enough to be Jeter's uncle. His half-brother Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez was actually four years older than he said he was. So, there's not a whole lot of confidence in the numbers.

The two other players I look forward to seeing in the WBC are:

Abreu's teammate, Alfredo Despaigne, who is a five-tool star at 26, and frequently finds himself at the top of the Cuban league's home run leaders.

Japan's Masahiro Tanaka. In 2011, Tanaka went 19-5 with a 1.27 ERA, 241 strikeouts, 171 hits and only 27 walks in 226.1 innings pitched. He's in the Dice-K, Yu Darvish mold and could be the next big signing from Japan in the coming years.

It's always exciting to see talent in places where we never really have the chance. Here's hoping we can get a chance to see hidden gems to liven up Bud Selig's international experiment that has a lot of the feel of watching minor league ball until the finals.


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