The Sox quietly swooped in and signed 23-year old left-handed hitting catcher Adalberto Ibarra earlier this week to a five-year $4.3 million deal. Ibarra is reportedly 5'9" and 200 pounds. Here's the scouting report from soxprospects.com:
Scouting Report: Athletic catcher with an excellent frame and a very strong arm. Came up through the Cuban ranks as an all-purpose infielder, only converted to catching in 2009. Raw in the blocking and game-calling department. Offensively, Ibarra has solid swing mechanics and a lot of potential. High power ceiling. Hits to all fields with decent present power. Laces a lot of opposite field liners, meaning his swing is well-suited for Fenway. Smart player with leadership skills. Needs to learn English. Defected from Cuba following the 2009 season and became eligible to sign in the U.S. in April 2010. Boston invited him for an early tryout and signed him almost immediately, stating the belief that he has higher offensive potential than any catcher in the Red Sox system. The Sox beat out several other teams for his services. He will spend approximately one month in extended spring training before getting assigned to an affiliate in late May or early June. At that time, he likely will be assigned to High-A Salem or Double-A Portland.
He is a raw catcher as he recently switched to the position from second base (he has experience at first and third). Adalberto has a major league ready bat - he batted .341 in 2008-09 in the Cuban National League before defecting to the U.S. - but will need to improve his defense and game calling behind the plate. It is widely believed that he could be in Pawtucket by next season.
The Red Sox have some good catching prospects coming up through the system - Mark Wagner (Pawtucket), Luis Expisito (Portland), Tim Federowicz (Salem), and Ryan Lavarnway (Salem). Each is reported to be a good defender, but Ibarra's offensive game is well ahead of all of them.
Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek are both free agents after the season, so Theo Epstein and crew have to think twice about blocking the depth of youth at the position in the organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment