Another Cuban player has been cleared by the United States government after defecting earlier in the offseason. The young right-hander is expected to garner interest from a number of MLB clubs, including the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
21-year-old Yoan Lopez is now free to sign with a team in North America following his clearance by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Back in November, the right-hander held a showcase for MLB teams in the Dominican Republic after defecting to Haiti and establishing residency there. At that point in the offseason, the Yankees, Padres, Giants and Diamondbacks expressed strong interest in Lopez, Sanchez wrote.
Take the Giants off that list and throw in the Dodgers as the latest team to jump into the sweepstakes. Lopez has been working out in the Dominican since November and held private workouts after teams came to view his showcase. It's unknown what teams he conducted private workouts with, but we may also see the Red Sox, Rays and Angels jump into the mix because they've already exceeded their allotted bonus pools for the 2014-2015 international signing period. They're being penalized for going over the limit and might be more apt to spend since the money is no longer an issue.
According to Sanchez, "Lopez throws a cut fastball, a changeup, a curveball and a slider, but he is best known for a fastball that has reached 100 mph and usually hovers in the 93-95 mph range. In Cuba, he played three seasons for Isla de la Juventud in Serie Nacional, the island's top league. Lopez sported a 3.12 ERA with 28 strikeouts and 11 walks in 49 innings in his final season before defecting."
The Yankees, Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks have all made additions to their starting rotations this offseason, but signing Lopez would be a prudent move since they'd likely want to develop him for a few seasons in the States. New York has a starting rotation filled with injuries, but added Nathan Eovaldi from the Miami Marlins and re-signed Chris Capuano; Los Angeles signed Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson to round of their rotation, but face the departure of Zack Greinke, who may opt out of his contract after this season; San Diego gave incentive-laden deals to Brandon Morrow and Josh Johnson to compete for a spot in the starting rotation and they also have prospect Matt Wisler, who may hit the majors next season; and Arizona is dealing with the recoveries of Patrick Corbin and Bronson Arroyo from Tommy John surgery, but had added Jeremy Hellickson and Andrew Webster in trades this offseason.
The competition for the young right-hander should heat up in the near future and another Yoan (Moncada) should be cleared by the government soon and garner a lot of interest.
