Dodgers Sign Yordan Alvarez As Signing Period Closes

While most of the top Cuban players will wait until July 2 to sign—either by choice or because Major League Baseball won’t let them sign yet—the Dodgers added one more Cuban player before the 2015-16 signing period closed on Wednesday.

The Dodgers signed Yordan Alvarez, an 18-year-old who played first base in Cuba but has also showcased in left field. The deal, first reported by MLB.com, is for $2 million, which means the Dodgers will pay $4 million total since they have to pay a 100 percent overage tax for exceeding their bonus pool.

Since Alvarez didn’t play much in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, my looks at him while he was in Cuba were limited to just a handful of at-bats. Alvarez had a long, lean build in Cuba, but those who have seen him more recently said he has gotten stronger and filled out to 6-foot-5, 220 pounds.

He has a simple lefthanded swing, drawing praise from scouts highest on him for his bat control and ability to manage the strike zone well for his age. While Alvarez never showed much power in Cuba, he has since earned average to above-average raw power grades from scouts who have followed him at workouts. Some evaluators said he sometimes struggles to tap into that power in games in part because he doesn’t always generate enough lift in his stroke (58 percent of his batted balls were groundballs during his final season in Cuba).

An offensive-minded prospect, Alvarez was a first baseman in Cuba and has worked out for clubs in left field as well. Scouts who followed him since he left Cuba said his defense will need improvement at first base, where he plays upright with limited flexibility.

During the 2014-15 season, Alvarez batted .351/.402/.387 in 125 plate appearances with eight walks, 10 strikeouts and one home run. He didn’t play much in Cuba’s 18U national league, since he was already playing for Las Tunas in Serie Nacional as a teenager. When Alvarez played in Cuba’s 15U league in 2012, he was one of the top hitters on the circuit, batting .454/.561/.620 in 142 plate appearances with 24 walks, seven strikeouts and one home run, ranking third in batting average and fifth in slugging.

Most of the prominent Cuban prospects will wait until July 2 to sign. Righthander Vladimir Gutierrez, shortstop/center fielder Randy Arozarena and outfielder Lazaro Armenteros are all free agents who will wait until July 2. Arozarena has another open showcase Thursday and has been hitting well recently while playing for the Toritos in Mexico.

MLB did not clear righthander Norge Ruiz, outfielder Jorge Ona and lefthanders Adrian Morejon and Cionel Perez to sign during the 2015-16 signing period, so they will have to wait to sign until July 2 (or later, since it’s no guarantee MLB will clear them by that date). Morejon and Ona are likely to sign with the Padres.

With the 2015-16 signing period over, 10 teams are now in the penalty box for the upcoming 2016-17 signing period, which begins on July 2. The Angels, Blue Jays, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Rays, Red Sox, Royals and Yankees all will be unable to sign any players subject to the international bonus pools for more than $300,000. However, they have no restrictions on signing players who are exempt from the bonus pools, such as third baseman Yulieski Gurriel, second baseman Jose Miguel Fernandez, infielder Luis Yander La O or outfielder Yadiel Hernandez.