The Cuban Murphy

There may be a new second baseman on the free agent market with reports that Jose Fernandez has defected from Cuba. 

In the Cuba, he was a .319/.403/.423 hitter. Personally, I don’t know how well stats from the Cuban leagues translate, do for comparison purposes here are the MLB numbers versus the Cuban league numbers of two well known successful Cuban players:

So, we can see there is a a drop in numbers from the Cuban leagues to the majors, but that is to be expected. Therefore, the best estimate of how Fernandez will play in the majors. 

According to Baseball America, Fernandez is the third best prospect from Cuba who hasn’t signed a MLB contract. He’s a contact hitter that doesn’t strike out. He doesn’t hit for much power. He doesn’t have a lot of speed, and he’s not a good defensive second baseman.  Fernandez has not played baseball in over a year because he was suspended for trying to defect.  This begs the question why would the Mets go that route?

From the description, he’s no better than Daniel Murphy. Murphy is a contact hitter that’s not great defensively at second. Yes, Fernandez is three years younger, but he also hasn’t done it in the majors. With that said if you’re inclined to go that route you’re better off re-signing Murphy or giving the position to Dilson Herrera, who is also just as much of a question mark. 

When it comes down to it, Fernandez may be the Cuban version of Daniel Murphy. If that’s the case, I’d rather have the real Daniel Murphy. 

page top