The Chicago Cubs lately have preferred to focus on Pacific Rim scouting when it comes to stocking the minor leagues outside of the draft, obviously while keeping their toes dipped in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere in Latin America. But now, the Cubs have finally reached into Cuba to make a minor league free agent signing.
The Cubs have reached an agreement with Cuban right-handed pitching prospect Juan Yasser Serrano. However, the deal is not expected to be finalized for another month.
The team has not confirmed the report.
Serrano, who defected from Cuba in April 2009, still needs to undergo a physical before he can join the Cubs. There also is additional paperwork that must be completed before the deal is finalized, a baseball source said Wednesday. cubs.com.
The price tag is somewhere around $250k, which would place Serrano at the equivalent value of a 3rd-ish round pick in the draft (caveat: international free agent signings tend to have extreme signing bonuses in both directions – super high on the top end, skewed low on the low end). Serrano is 21, and will probably head to High A Daytona after minor league camp breaks.