The San Francisco Giants have signed Cuban outfielder Eddy Julio Martinez for $2.5 million, CBS Sports MLB Insider Jon Heyman has confirmed. MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez first reported the news over the weekend.Martinez, 20, was considered the top available Cuban free agent. The Giants have pursued several big name Cuban players in recent years, including Rusney Castillo and Yasmany Tomas. They signed Cuban outfielder Daniel Carbonell for $1.4 million in 2014.Here is a video scouting report of Martinez:
In their free scouting report, MLB.com says some scouts have called Martinez a "young Andruw Jones," which is lofty praise. Too lofty, really. Jones is a borderline Hall of Famer who had 18 homers and a .745 OPS in the big leagues when he was Martinez's age. The scouts may be shooting too high with the Andruw comp.Either, way, here is some more on Martinez, via MLB.com:
In the batter's box, Martinez has a quick and compact power stroke. He's shown the ability to hit home runs to all fields and work the counts. He's speedy out of the box and shows base-stealing potential. Described as "hard-nosed," Martinez is aggressive and not afraid to take an extra-base. Martinez has shown good instincts on defense and the ability to cover the gaps in the outfield. Those skills combined with a playable and accurate arm make scouts believe he will stay in center field and could be in the big leagues in after a couple of seasons in the Minor Leagues.Due to his age, Martinez was subject to MLB's international spending restrictions. The Giants have exceeded their bonus pool for the 2015-16 signing period -- most notably, they gave infielder Lucius Fox from the Bahamas a $6.5 million bonus in July -- and will face strict penalties, including a tax on the spending overage and a bonus cap in the coming years.The Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Reds, Astros and Rangers were among the clubs linked to Martinez at various points in recent months.Mike Axisa/CBS Sports
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