Cuban Slugger Defects From Cuba

26 year old Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu has defected from the island of Cuba in hopes of landing a major league contract. It is unknown where he will establish residency, but it is believed to be in either the Dominican Republic or Haiti.

Jose Abreu is a 6-foot-3 250 pound slugging first baseman is well known on the international scene. In the last World Baseball Classic, he hit .360 (9-for-25) with 3 home runs and 9 RBI’s in 6 games. Abreu is also a former MVP in Cuba, where he had one of the greatest seasons in the leagues history. In 2010-11 he hit .453 with 33 home runs and 93 RBI’s in 66 games.

Here is a link to video that displays his power in the World Baseball Classic  http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?content_id=25693211&topic_id=29781472&c_id=mlb

Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com interviewed Henry Urrutia of the Baltimore Orioles who defected from Cuba two years ago and is a childhood friend of Jose Abreu, had this to say about his longtime friend, “He’s one of the greatest players to ever come out of Cuba, he has so much talent and he’s playing with torn batting gloves and old balls there. The bats aren’t very good. The equipment in old. Imagine what he’s going to be like when he gets to work with quality equipment. I don’t think there is anyone I can compare to him right now. I heard Ryan Howard. And as a person, there is no comparison.” (MLB.com)

With the recent success of Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Cespedes, and pitcher Aroldis Chapman you have to think that Jose Abreu, when signed will make an instant impact on whatever team he is with.

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