DUNEDIN, Fla. — Having lost out on Cuban free agent pitcher Aroldis Chapman to the Cincinnati Reds, the Blue Jays have beat out the New York Yankees for Cuban shortstop Adeinis Hechavarria.
The New York Post reported Sunday that Hechavarria has turned down the Yankees and instead will agree to a $10-million US offer from the Blue Jays.
Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who has made it a policy of not talking about free agents, kept to his guns Sunday and neither confirmed nor denied the report.
“I really don’t have a comment right now and everyone knows that we’ve been very clear that we’re looking to continue to add young players,” Anthopoulos said. “We’re going to be in on some of the young players, whether it’s Latin America or in the draft. That’s all I can say right now.”
Has he made an offer?
“I can’t get into specifics but everyone knows that we’ve been looking for young talented players, especially for the middle infield,” he said. “We’ve talked about trying to get a shortstop, adding more depth and getting more prospects and so on, and we’re going to continue to be involved with those guys and evaluate them.”
Hechavarria, 21, worked out for a host of major-league teams during the winter in the Dominican Republic. Hechavarria, who defected in Mexico last year, played short for the Cuban junior team two years ago.
At six-foot and 170 pounds, Hechavarria is said to resemble the physique of former Yankees and now Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano.
“There has been a lot of interest,” his agent, Bart Hernandez, said in an earlier New York Post article, without mentioning teams. “He is a legitimate player with a chance to be a real good one.”
The Post also quoted an unnamed scout who said of Hechavarria: “He is a very good athlete and runs real well. I don’t see him as a shortstop, I think he has a chance to be a centre fielder in the mold of B.J. Upton. His throwing actions at short are kind of long.”
The Jays are not stocked with quality shortstops in their minor-league system. Their best prospect for the position is Justin Jackson, who hit just .213 at class-A Dunedin in 2009. He was a first-round supplemental pick of the Jays in 2007.
The Jays have not developed a quality everyday shortstop since heartthrob Alex Gonzalez manned the position from 1994 through the 2001 season.
They have gone through about a zillion shortstops since then and this year will go with a different Alex Gonzalez.
mike.rustsey@sunmedia.ca
