Hola, Julio Pablo Martinez. 54 comments


 

Julio Pablo Martinez slots in as the third top prospect in the Rangers farm system.

 

For the longest time, Texas has been stockpiling international bonus pool money to snag once-in-a-lifetime player Shohei Ohtani.

When that didn’t work out, they set their sights on Cuban center fielder Julio Pablo Martinez, a 5-foot, 10-inch offensive machine, who they just signed for $2.8 million.

Martinez has shown the ability to hit for average and for power, and play at a high level at a premium defensive position, something this Rangers front office has historically overlooked.

A rarity on the Rangers, especially in the last few seasons, Martinez walked (fifty-two times) more than he struck out (thirty times) last year in the Cuban League. Here are his stats according to baseball-reference.com.

The left-handed hitting Martinez is 21, and is expected to start the season in Class A or Double-A. This is the first Cuban center fielder the Rangers have signed since Leonys Martin in 2011, a one-tool player who had a cannon for an arm and not much else, showing an inability to hit major league pitching.

Because of misinformation Martinez provided to MLB, he comes into the league owing $100,000 in fines.

He is a great addition to the Rangers system on paper, if not all that adept with paperwork.