Cuban Shortstop Arruebarruena Defects

[Johnnydollaz89]

Promising Cuban shortstop Erisbel Barbaro Arruebarruena has left his home country to try and sign with a major league team, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. Arruebarruena is known for his tremendously sharp defense at the shortstop position, drawing comparisons to Jose Iglesias in the field.
Arruebarruena, 23, has played in Serie Nacional for six seasons, so his bonus will not be subject to the international bonus pools. MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez tweets that Arruebarruena has established residency in Haiti. He will now need to be cleared to sign by the U.S. government and MLB.
Earlier this year, Baseball America ranked Arruebarruena the No. 10 World Baseball Classic prospect not signed with an MLB team. Badler writes that the shortstop is a below-average runner but he makes up for it with a quick first step and solid instincts that give him good range. Scouts have called Arruebarruena a magician in the field, but he'll have to step things up at the plate.
In related news, Cuban reporter Ibrahim Rojas tells MLBTR that 19-year-old pitcher Javier Gonzalez, 22-year-old pitcher Jorge Hernandez, and 25-year-old outfielder Dayron Varona have left Cuba.

MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

Would love for the Mets to take a chance on this kid.

 

[ChicagoIrish]

Just another good gloving non hitting short stop. Plenty of them everywhere

 

[navamind]

MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

Would love for the Mets to take a chance on this kid.

drawing comparisons to Jose Iglesias in the field.

So he's Pokey Reese 3.0?

 

[BigDDude]

So he's Pokey Reese 3.0?

Ouch.

Could someone be holding a grudge on Iglesias due to him leaving Boston?

 

[navamind]

Ouch.

Could someone be holding a grudge on Iglesias due to him leaving Boston?

Always thought he was an overrated prospect.

His defense will keep him in the league, but I don't think his bat will ever amount to much (if anything). He regressed significantly in the 2nd half. Don't get me wrong though, he played well in his time on the Sox this year and he deserves the ring he got from the Sox. He's fun to watch on the field and I do hope he does well.

Remains to be seen how long Bogaerts will stay at SS. His bat could be good anywhere, but it makes sense to see if he can be the long-term answer at SS. Even if he does move, the Sox still have Deven Marrero.

 

[BigDDude]

Always thought he was an overrated prospect.

His defense will keep him in the league, but I don't think his bat will ever amount to much (if anything). He regressed significantly in the 2nd half. Don't get me wrong though, he played well in his time on the Sox this year and he deserves the ring he got from the Sox. He's fun to watch on the field and I do hope he does well.

Remains to be seen how long Bogaerts will stay at SS. His bat could be good anywhere, but it makes sense to see if he can be the long-term answer at SS. Even if he does move, the Sox still have Deven Marrero.

Gotcha. And, I guess I just have more hope for him and his bat than you do going forward. That said, I was hoping that his minor league numbers would tell me or show me that this is more likely than not. After checking, I see that he has not been much of a hitter so far.

They used to say that about Yadier Molina as well, but he learned on the job. So may Iglesias?

 

[navamind]

Gotcha. And, I guess I just have more hope for him and his bat than you do going forward. That said, I was hoping that his minor league numbers would tell me or show me that this is more likely than not. After checking, I see that he has not been much of a hitter so far.

They used to say that about Yadier Molina as well, but he learned on the job. So may Iglesias?

well, he did go from short-season A to AAA in 2010 (as a 20-year-old), so he may have been a little rushed. But the best he's done in his three stints at AAA was .266/.318/.306. Even for a shortstop, that's pretty underwhelming.

We'll see. Adam Everett and Brendan Ryan weren't good hitters at all (even for shortstops) and they've had some nice years.