Reds Agree To Sign Cuban Pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez

The Reds have an agreement in place to sign 20-year-old Cuban righthander Vladimir Gutierrez for $4.75 million, multiple sources told Baseball America. Gutierrez’s contract is subject to the international bonus pools, which the Reds already blew past on July 2 with their $7 million contract for Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez. The agreement was first reported by Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald.

At 6-foot-3, Gutierrez is a lanky, long-armed pitcher who has been one of the top prospects on the international market for a while, with his stock initially dipping upon poor early showcases before rising higher than after when his velocity spiked earlier this year, touching 97 mph after he topped out at 93 mph in Cuba to go with a swing-and-miss curveball. While his assignment for next year has yet to be determined, based on his present ability, he should start in the minors at one of the Class A levels.

Gutierrez ranked as the No. 12 prospect in BA’s rankings of the top Cuban prospects still in the country in August 2014, coming off a 2013-14 season in which he won the rookie of the year award in Serie Nacional, posting a 3.90 ERA with a 44-40 K-BB mark in 67 innings.

Gutierrez looked even better during the 2014-15 season, with a 2.45 ERA, 49 strikeouts and 19 walks in 51 1/3 innings. In the middle of the season, when Gutierrez traveled to Puerto Rico in February 2015 with his Pinar Del Rio club for the Caribbean Series, Gutierrez left the team to pursue a major league contract. Gutierrez pitched as a reliever in Cuba largely because his Pinar Del Rio team had a veteran starting pitching staff, though he’s expected to be developed as a starter going forward.

In Cuba, Gutierrez pitched at 88-93 mph and racked up plenty of strikeouts with his plus curveball. He was mostly a two-pitch guy, though he did on occasion flash an average changeup. Yet when Gutierrez started doing showcases for teams last summer, scouts were left puzzled, as Gutierrez’s velocity was down, his stuff looked flat and his mechanics were out of whack. He was able to rebound early this year, when he threw 92-96 mph at an open showcase (he’s reached as high as 97) and showed plus curveball with tight spin and sharp bite.

“I stopped throwing the curveball to throw the slider, which was a mistake,” Gutierrez told BA’s J.J. Cooper after a showcase in March. “I started working on the slider and forgot about the breaking ball, now I went back to what made me.”

“Back then,” Gutierrez added, “my mechanics were off. I was only using my top half. My mechanics are better and you can see the difference in my velocity.”