The Rangers have struck a minor-league deal with Cuban free-agent infielder Luis Yander La O, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). He’ll receive a $110K bonus in the contract.
This arrangement finally brings an end to La O’s lengthy time on the open market. Though he has always been free of any international signing limitations, it has been nearly a year since he was cleared to sign. It surely did not help that he was originally represented by Bart Hernandez, who has since been indicted on federal trafficking charges.
Now 25, La O once drew praise as one of his home island’s best prospects. Last we checked in, though, he had failed to impress scouts in a workout. Still, La O has a solid track record of high-contact hitting in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, where he owns a .329/.388/.406 slash over 1,338 plate appearances.
It seems likely, given his age and experience, that La O will report to the upper levels of the Texas farm. There, he’ll need to prove that he can reach base enough to offset a notable lack of power, as Baseball America’s Ben Badler explained in a full writeup when La O left Cuba. While he typically lines up at third base, where he’s said to be a quality defender, it’s also possible that he might be able to transition to second with more dedicated time at that position.
the heck kinda name is la o?
Exactly
Its Spanish for “The O”
maybe he should be playing for la o’s instead then!
Pretty cool/distinct!!
I wonder if he’s related to Scott Bai O.
I always thought his last name was La O Camacho for some reason
Cuban player names (usually, just spellings) are often in some flux. I’m not entirely sure of why that is, but it’s the case here. He’s been referred to mostly without the “Camacho” appended of late, so I went with that.
Actually, if someone has a link to an explanation, or some cultural or other explanation, I’d like to be educated on this!
Most Latin American countries have naming conventions that include two surnames (apellidos). The first is paternal, second is maternal. Much like we ignore Korean custom and say their given names first, we skip the maternal surname here.
How would his name be pronounced? In Spanish I believe it would be “o-eh.”
i think the camacho is the matrilineal name (mother’s family name), which you see sometimes and is technically part of the player’s name but is generally dropped in practice, at least in the US
my understanding is that latin naming conventions append the mother’s last name after the father’s last name. sometimes you used to see david ortiz referred to as david arias, or david ortiz arias; his full name is David Américo Ortiz Arias – first name, middle name, father’s name, mother’s name.
a lot of latin players have them as part of their full official name, but for some reason some of them crop up visibly more often than others. cubans in particular seem prone to name confusion. in this case the “la o” is weird enough that maybe people figured that couldn’t possibly be the end
It would never be appropriate to address David Ortiz only as David Arias. The maternal surname does not stand alone.
this has been the general sense i’ve always had so i’m sure you’re right, but i’ve definitely seen him referred to that way. a long time ago, usually in the context of his minor league career. it might have just been confusion on the part of white people who looked at his baseball-reference page and didn’t know how the names worked, which got out of hand at some point
anyway that memory fragment is the reason he’s the first person i reach for as an example
We’ll probably find out that he’s actually going by his third cousin’s name and is 3 years older anyways
From The Straight Dope:
‘Virgen de la O” has liturgical origins. It refers to the so called O-antiphons (Vespers) sung during the latter part of Advent. 17th-23rd), and thus makes this advocation one of expectation of the imminent birth of Jesus
His surname is probably “de la O”. You can find several people with this name on Google.
could make for an interesting chant during ballgames.
What’s an “O” in Spanish?
They have Yu and O. Now all they need are A, E, and I to cover all the vowels.
And sometimes why
Jon Daniels gives us plenty of those. As in why does he make such bad trades?
I have seen that name before in Cuba and is written Lao. So he may have Asian ancestry by his mother side
I can’t wait to see how the new “Story of O” unfolds.
He already has a magazine named for him.
Try yodelling his name out. It’s fun!
I think they should just go with O on the back of his jersey.
his walk-up music should be Jungle Love
O e O e O
Jeff Keppinger 2.0