Update 3:22 pm: Or maybe not quite yet.
Dodgers sign Cuban INF Alexander Guerrero to 7-year, $32 million deal
Seemingly out of nowhere, the Dodgers have yet again put down big money on a Cuban position player.
Agent for #Cuba SS Alexander Guerrero: "Nothing finalized. No agreement in hand with anyone. No truth to any of that." Three teams in mix.
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) July 23, 2013
*****
Leave it to the Los Angeles Dodgers to sign a guy you've never heard of to a ridiculous amount of money. The Blue Crew has signed Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero (Perez) to a 7-year, $32 million deal, reports Dionisio Soldevila of ESPN Deportes.
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Soldevila adds that the Dodgers plan on moving Guerrero quickly through Double- and Triple-A so that he can take over at second base in Chavez Ravine in "a couple weeks." Whether or not he'll be able to jump to the big leagues as quickly as the Dodgers want him to remains to be seen, but it's apparent they see him as a better option at second than Mark Ellis.
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No agreement has been reached as of yet, but Soriano may be a Yankee yet again very soon. So who exactly is Guerrero, then? There isn't much in the way of scouting information available online for Guerrero (at least that I could find in English), but we do know what he's been up to. The 26-year-old infielder defected from Cuba in January and has been training in the Dominican Republic in the six months since. Guerrero played shortstop in Cuba's Serie Nacional for several years -- making the All-Star team with Las Tunas in 2010 and 2011 -- but sat out last year after not being chosen for the World Baseball Classic team.
Speaking on his Sirius XM radio show Tuesday morning, former GM Jim Duquette said that Guerrero has a similar build to White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez, and that he launched 60 home runs in a three-season span while in Cuba.
Here’s a video of Guerrero in action:
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