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Over three weeks ago, we told you that MLB international No.1 Yoelqui Céspedes will sign with the White Sox this month.
We haven’t lied.
On Friday, Céspedes and Marco Paddy spoke to the media about what you expect. Paddy sees Céspedes as close to MLB due to his Cuban playing experience.
“I can’t tell you exactly how close or far I am to the majors,” NBC’s Vinnie Duber said quoting Céspedes. “But I think that with the time spent in the miners, I will be able to develop myself and show what I can do. We’ll see how long it takes, but I have confidence in myself.
And from Paddy: “From a baseball perspective, he’s very close. He is advanced, he knows how to play the game … Combined with his Cuban experience, he is very advanced … He is very close to the major leagues.
Here is the full / copied version of the White Sox:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday January 15, 2021
WHITE SOX ACCEPTS THE TERMS WITH CUBAN OUTFIELDER YOELQUI CÉSPEDES
CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms, including a $ 2.05 million signing bonus, with Cuban outfielder Yoelqui (yo-EL-key) Céspedes.
Céspedes, 23, played four seasons (2015-19) for Granma in the Cuban Serie Nacional (Cuban National Series), Cuba’s top league. The 5´9´´ and 200 lb Céspedes is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 1 international.
Céspedes has hit .287 / .351 / .415 with 35 doubles, 10 trebles, 12 homers, 98 RBIs, 114 runs scored and 14 goals stolen in 226 career games with Granma. He made his debut with the team in 2015 at the age of 17 and is a two-time Cuban Serie Nacional champion, winning the league title in 2017 and 2018.
“Yoelqui worked really hard to get himself into this situation,” said Marco Paddy, White Sox special assistant to the general manager of international operations. “He’s got the ability to play all three field positions with above average defense, line-to-line hitting ability with power on all terrains and a running instinct to fly and stretch singles to doubles.
Céspedes, who beats and throws from the right-hander, hit .319 / .355 / .389 with five doubles, seven RBIs and four runs in 21 games in 2018-19, his last season with Granma.
The Manzanillo, Cuba native played with the Cuban National Team in the Caribbean Series (2016-18), World Baseball Classic (2017) and the Canada-United States Association (2017, 2019), a league independent professional from the Northeastern United States and the East. Canada. He is the youngest half-brother of major league outfielder Yoenis Céspedes.
The White Sox expect additional international signings in the coming weeks.
The previous story we posted, without the quote from Paddy, was more compelling and informative than this version. However, there is a point of intrigue with this last line, given that the rest of the class has not been announced.
Of course, Norge Vera is the other plum in the international White Sox class (in fact, according to FanGraphs, he’s much higher among White Sox prospects than Céspedes, which is a bit of an annoyance to say the least). It’s unclear if the White Sox just want to give Vera her own day next week, or if there are any real issues in the process.
But we do expect to hear from Vera soon, as well as details on the rest of the class.
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