The Cubs have signed Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion to a contract, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (via Twitter). The deal is worth $7MM with incentives that could push the total to $8MM, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes Los Angeles. The contract will become official once Concepcion, a Jaime Torres client, passes a physical.
Concepcion, 18, established residency in Mexico in mid-January and was declared a free agent last week. Several teams were interested in the young southpaw, including the Blue Jays, Giants, Phillies, Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, White Sox and Yankees. Torres recently said Concepcion had received as many as 10 contract offers.
The signing is a nice win for Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein in their quest to rebuild both the Cubs' minor league system and their Latin American scouting and development systems. The Cubs have also been linked to two other major Cuban free agents this winter, Yoenis Cespedes and Jorge Soler.
glad they got one of the cubans!
Theo and Jed keep making good decisions. Now get Soler or Cespedes and this off season will have been very productive.
Better Soler than Cespedes. Age and cost. They can groom Soler and fix some of the issues Cuban position players have transitioning to MLB, especially inability to hit breaking pitches. Cespedes will want to play every day in the Majors right away, and the money he’ll cost will encourage whichever club signs him to do the same. Soler a better bet.
I have zero video on Soler. I really have no idea what the guy can do other than what is offered in written scouting reports. We at least have a track record for Concepcion and Cespedes. I totally understand the financial aspect behind signing Soler and the age helps. I trust them to make the right decision.
I can’t believe the hype on him when no one has seen him play hahhaha
On Cespedes, Jason McLeod (our new scout) said not to long ago that if they signed Cespedes that he’ll give him at least 100 at bats in the minors. Why not sign both Cespedes & Soler? Theo & Jed wants both so why not? 😀
Well, they’re both free agetns so they can sign where ever they want. This isn’t the posting system. If they would feel more comfortable in Miami (for example) they can choose to go there even for less money.
Cool.
Beans
Burrito
I think you’re doing it wrong.
Lol I had a friend that always use to say cool beans burrito…Apparently he was the only that said that!
Solid
Very good move! Only 18 an i’d say close to being MLB ready.
Sorry but he is nowhere near MLB ready. At least 3 years away.
You have to consider that he played in the Cuban baseball league. Which i think is a very high level of baseball.
A ball quality.
How many highschoolers jump from the draft to the bigs with little to no MiLB experience?
there’s your mistake
If by high you mean professional, then yes. If by high you mean near major-league talent, then no.
He’s probably a few years away but still a nice signing by the Cubs. I would expect a lot more of these out of Chicago over the next couple years. With the new CBA, cut back payroll a little and flex your spending muscles in international free agency. Theo already has a nice start to rebuilding with very little to work with.
The new CBA limits international spending as well, so that’s why you’ll see some bigger signing bonuses this year from teams being desperate.
they need to spend the money on international players now and next year while they are down in the standings. once they get better, they will be limited more by the new cba. the cubs, dodgers, and mets should be the biggest players for international talent in the next few years because of bad teams and high payrolls.
And do we know he’s really ’18’? ;o)
That’s a very good point
No… Cuba would have NO reason to lie about a players age. They don’t want them to go to the majors, so there is no benefit in claiming a younger age. This is a totally different situation from somewhere like the DR.
Not entirely true. In Cuba the majority of people use their Baptismal day as their birthday and that usually happens between 2 and 3 years of age.
congrats cubs, hopefully he works out.
ETA on concepcion?
At least 3 years.
Nice pickup. He’s been said to be like a #4-5 with potential to be a 3, which is fine by me.
NICE!! 1 down, 2 to go: Cespedes & Soler.
Or just Soler.
Finally now send him over to the Red Sox as compensation
Very funny. Blake Dewitt or Alfonso Soriano (though wouldn’t make sense Ortiz is back as DH since Crawford’s on the DL Sori could play LF for them but we all know he’s not a LF, i just want to see Brett Jackson) sounds just about right
How about DeWitt, soriano, Soto,marmol for compensation.. soriano would also include 75mil. Soriano could then be released and go back to whatever hole he came from.
I haven’t heard of Concepion.. Who does he comp to in the majors right now?
Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, only better.
Too cute. Gotta love the Cubbie’s optimism!
What a waste of money. He had 101 innings of a 3.36 ERA in the Cuban League. But the Cuban League is the equivalent of Single-A and he also allowed more hits than innings pitched, had a K/BB of 53/43, walked almost 4 per 9, struck out less than 5 per nine and had a FIP of 4.75.
And he was 17 last year……
If a 17 year old player had a 4.75 ERA in Single-A would you be excited?
Yes.
Who knows? Nobody should be applying statistical analysis like that to A-ball players. The further you get from the majors, the less meaningful that sort of statistic is.
But I’d definitely be intrigued. A guy holding his own at a level he’s 2-3 years too young for? Yeah, you’ve got my attention.
Kyle, agreed. Stats don’t always tell the story at the low minor league levels. There are guys with ERA’s in the low 3’s or high 2’s who never get promoted while you see guys with ERAs in the 4’s or 5’s moving up. Why? Stuff. The guy may have crafty stuff and be good enough stuff to fool minor league hitters but lack a ML quality “out pitch.” Or perhaps he has a decent fastball but can’t locate his breaking pitches. Some guys peak earlier than others. Proof? Look at how many guys there are at AAA who won 15 games or hit 20 HR who either never get called up or who have a cup of coffee and never stick around.
Holding his own? Bogaerts is holding his own in Single-A, a pitcher with a 4.75 ERA is one notch below getting lit up.
Stats on a Single-A player isn’t really a accurate measure to how he will perform in the MLB if he makes it that far. One of the Cubs pitching coaches can see something wrong in his mechanics or change something that makes him 3 times better in 2013. He’s 18 and he can easily get stronger and have more stamina to go 200+ innings as he gets older.
Jed Hoyer is the undoubted GM of the Cubs. However, Theo still plants ideas in Jed’s head while he’s dreaming. I’ve heard its called Concepcion.
You’re tryin too hard
I’m a Detroit fan stuck living in Chicago. I also love Christopher Nolan Films. It’s the best I’ve got
You can be a bulls fan. They are the best team in the nba and have the best player too. The pistons arent very good.Yo
Ok, I’ll give this one to ya.
Thanks for the lol…beer almost came out my nose
How long is the contract?
For $8M, Cubs fans better hope it’s AT LEAST 4 years.
They get him for his six year of MLB service time regardless.
Yeah, at cost + his contract. And the shorter this deal is, the more he will get in arb.
Is this off-season exciting or what?! Hopefully this summer is just as fun….
Who?
I’m not opposed to signing Cespedes because quite frankly, we need more reasons to show up to see our guys but I think he’ll end up being too expensive. Especially, considering it’s rumored he can’t hit an off speed pitch and he’s already 26, which might equate to 34 in American years. Who really knows though. I’m pumped about the Concepcion signing and really hope we go hard after Soler. As of right now, it’s hard to be anything but optimistic about the direction our front office is taking our farm system.
Does this mean concepcion is on the 25 man roster? Since it was a major league contract.. they have nothing to lose really they are virtually out of contention already and will be that way for at least 3 years unless by some miracle they trade soriano and other dead wait before then. I like 95% cubs fans won’t hold my breath.