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Considered the best hitter in Cuba by many baseball experts, free agent Jose Abreu is someone who could help the Mets considerably next season and in future seasons should the organization decide to open up its pocketbook this winter.
Abreu has been wildly successful as a power hitter in Cuba for a while now and he should demand a hefty sum in exchange for his services in the United States. Considering the major league success enjoyed by Cuban sluggers Yoenis Cespedes and Yasiel Puig during the past two seasons, it's hard to blame Abreu for wanting to take advantage of capitalism.
With the Mets lacking a reliable everyday first baseman, it was an easy decision for the team to send some scouts down to the Domincan Republic to observe an Abreu workout last week. According to The Star-Ledger, at least one of those scouts came away impressed by the slugger's skills.
A high-ranking Mets official said the organization had "a few guys from the U.S." and "some of our international scouts" in attendance.
And though the official had not yet spoken to the scouts directly as of Monday, the initial reports are promising. The official requested anonymity because the team's evaluation is ongoing.
"I heard that his power was impressive," the official told The Star-Ledger.
Yeah, the official that spoke to The Star-Ledger had reportedly not even spoken to the scouts directly when this story came out. However, it's not really a stretch to think that Abreu can hit the ball a long way. In his last 916 at-bats (four seasons) in Cuba's Serie Nacional de Beisbol, he hit .407/.557/.845 with 111 home runs.
Those numbers are mind-blowing, but we still don't know for sure how Abreu's skills will transfer over to Major League Baseball. That's what we have scouts for. And according to someone who has perhaps talked to those scouts, Abreu's power is impressive.