As many of you know already, over these next few days I will be profiling some of the international free agents that figure to have an impact on the MLB in the next year or so. These guys are some of the best international players from all sorts of different places that are thinking about making the jump to Major League Baseball. Some of these guys you may have heard of, and others maybe not. There will be many different types of players that I will be looking at, but they all have one thing in common, they are the best of the rest throughout the world.
Yenier Bello is a 28 year old catcher from Cuba. He stands at 5'11", 225 pounds. He recently defected from Cuba and is waiting to be cleared by OFAC in order to sign with a US team. Bello last played in the Cuba Serie Nacional in 2011-2012 for Sancti Spiritus, his 9th year in Cuba, but was suspended from baseball in Cuba after the season for attempting to flee the country. Bello has some tools that have enticed major league scouts. The first is his rocket of an arm. He has one of the best arms behind the plate on the international market, and it should be an above average arm in the majors. Over his career in the Serie Nacional, 236 base runners tried to steal on him and Bello stopped exactly half of those attempts. Bello also brings some pop with his bat on the other side of the ball. He has a career slash of .276/.324/.458 with 82 home runs in Cuba. His 2010-2011 season was the best thus far in his career, in which he hit .320 with 21 home runs and 73 RBI in 92 games. He has a lot of power and looks to be able to contribute in the MLB.
Bello held a showcase for major league scouts in November, as seemed to do well. Between 15-20 teams were reportedly there to scout this showcase and a few teams came away interested in his services. Although he hadn't caught since the 2011-2012 season in Cuba, scouts reported that he looked 'solid' behind the plate. Scouts really like the power that he can bring to the catcher position, and that combined with his strong arm should allow him to be an average to above average catcher in the bigs. When signed, he will probably go straight to the big leagues, if not for a short month or two stop in the high minors. He should also be able to contribute right away, so the team that signs him will most likely be a catcher hungry team at the major league level. Look for him to become an unrestricted free agent sometime this spring, and he should be signed shortly thereafter.
Bello held a showcase for major league scouts in November, as seemed to do well. Between 15-20 teams were reportedly there to scout this showcase and a few teams came away interested in his services. Although he hadn't caught since the 2011-2012 season in Cuba, scouts reported that he looked 'solid' behind the plate. Scouts really like the power that he can bring to the catcher position, and that combined with his strong arm should allow him to be an average to above average catcher in the bigs. When signed, he will probably go straight to the big leagues, if not for a short month or two stop in the high minors. He should also be able to contribute right away, so the team that signs him will most likely be a catcher hungry team at the major league level. Look for him to become an unrestricted free agent sometime this spring, and he should be signed shortly thereafter.