Much of the New York Yankees' attention of late has been focused on pursuing Yu Darvish and Gerrit Cole (before Cole got traded) but the front office also has an eye on the future as well.
Despite the logjam of outfielders the Yankees have (thanks to the Giancarlo Stanton trade) at both the major league level and in the minors, New York is one of a handful of teams showing a lot of interest in Cuban outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.
The Yankees have a gaggle of outfielders and outfield prospects. That’s no reason not to add another, right? Right! They currently have their sights set on Julio Pablo Martinez, a CF prospect from Cuba. Martinez is 21-years old and many scouts say that he would be a first-round draft pick. The Texas Rangers and Miami Marlins are also looking at him. Both the Yankees and Marlins have held private workouts for him already. Keep an eye on this one.
Martinez is still waiting for the MLB to declare him as a free agent, which should happen before June 15, when the current 2017-18 international signing period ends.
However, since New York has limited pool space available in the current international signing period, Martinez would likely wait until July 2 - when the 2018-19 period starts - if he wanted to sign with the Yankees.
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The 5-foot-10, 185-pounder would expect to start at either the high Single-A level or Double-A. In 264 plate appearances in his last season in Cuba, Martinez hit .333/.469/.498 with six home runs and 52 walks, along with 24 stolen bases.
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