| 03/01/2021 – 10:25 am (GMT-4)
Prospect Jeison Martinez, a rising baseball star, left Cuba and is in the Dominican Republic, a source told CiberCuba.
The player left Cuba this Sunday, but so far other details of his trip and his whereabouts in Dominican territory are unknown.
Martinez is a native of Mayabeque and turned 21 last October. It is one of the revelations of the 60th National Series with the Hurricanes and featured a remarkable offensive line of 365/436/528.
Martinez is expected to become a free agent in the near future and be eligible for the Major Leagues (MLB) in the 2020-2021 international signing period, which will begin on January 15th.
He is a multi-tool player that MLB organizations are valuing in the current times. It emphasizes by his contact towards the three bands, speed more, versatility, arm and glove, because it dominates the same the shortstop and the second base, besides the antechamber.
“He looked a lot like José Ramírez (now a Cleveland Dominican star) in his early days,” said one scout who preferred to remain anonymous.
The same evaluator reports that among the Cuban players, Jeison is a kind of Andy Ibáñez, infielder who signed in 2015 for $ 1.5 million with the Texas Rangers, among other things for the versatility and mastery of various positions, as well as for its high capacity to produce extra bases.
Martinez had a significant growth in quality and marked a milestone in the current baseball season in Cuba. After 72 complete games on the calendar he was among the first in almost every offensive department in the Cuban League.
He was third in hits (99), sixth in batting average (365), fourth in scoring (68) and had 26 extra bases (15 doubles, 4 triples and 7 home runs).
Martinez could be the perfect prototype for any MLB franchise and its features take on a particular connotation in the present of the game as the functionality of its attributes lies in different areas.
You can also play in the gardens. Soon, he will be seen by the evaluators of the Houston Stars and St. Paul Cardinals. Louis. Some scouts believe that Cuban talent will have an immediate impact within the international prospect market.
MLB franchises like the Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astres, Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves still have money in their coffers by 2021, and among them could be the Cuban suitor.
Martinez will now enter a new phase to improve training methods and is projected to acquire more power in the short term, which would be the ideal connection with his speed and contact.
At the time of his departure from the island, Martinez was considered a future star and was already part of the plans of the National Commission to join the Cuba team.
Martinez surpassed in OPS with 964 to recognized prospects like Geyser Cepeda 944, Loidel Chapelli Jr. (935, Rookie of the Year in 2019), Daniel Pérez 895 and Leonel Moa Jr. 817. These four players were on the list of 34 eligible to sign with MLB in 2019 when the agreement was reached between the Cuban Baseball Federation and MLB, then aborted by the Donald Trump administration.