Lednier Ricardo, International Free Agent...

[Edgy MD]

... damn glad to meet you.

Mentioned in the roster thread is the Mets signing the starting catcher from the Cuban National Team 2012-2013. Deets are sketchy as they tend to be with Cubans.

He's 27 so we'll likely see him relatively soon or not at all. Looks more like an insurance/reserve signing, but hey, a Cuban! And he's named Lednier! If nothing else, it could signal the end of the Dan Rohlfing era.



http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=ricard000led

[MFS62]

Isn't there a spending cap on International FA signings? If so, why use some of it for this guy? His age and stats make it look like you're right, replacement for the minor league organization. Only. Was he really needed?

EDIT: OTOH, the Braves just called up a 30 year old Cuban signee, so who knows?
http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasybaseball/update/25190032/braves-call-up-30-year-old-infof-adonis-garcia-for-mlb-debut?FTAG=YHF7e3228e

Later

[Edgy MD]

Caps are such a terrible thing.

Why use some of it for that guy? Because they thought he might make them stronger and he might be undervalued in the market, I guess.

[MFS62]

Yup.
Who knows.
Time will tell.
I wish him Buena suerte.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Isn't there a spending cap on International FA signings? If so, why use some of it for this guy? His age and stats make it look like you're right, replacement for the minor league organization. Only. Was he really needed? Later

Rubie sez:

VP Paul DePodesta describes newly signed Cuban catcher Lednier Ricardo as solid behind the plate. �He's a good defender first,� DePodesta said. �That's his calling card.� The Mets have not released the signing bonus, although Ricardo did not count against the organization�s international signing money because he is older (27) and had the required professional experience in Cuba. Ricardo currently is securing a visa. He initially should work out of the team�s complex in Port St. Lucie, since he needs to get in baseball shape after a substantial period away from games. Once ready, he is projected to land in the upper minors -- Binghamton or Las Vegas.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Not to be negative, but I hope they're not spending too much
time and energy on stuff like this when there are more pressing
issues at hand. 27 (allegedly) and not in baseball shape... woo hoo.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Do you really think there was something else they needed to be working on that this prevented them from doing?

[Guest d'Kong76]

What to do with Niese and Gee... stuff like that, I guess. Not old
catchers from Cuba who aren't even athletically in shape? They are
professional athletes after all.

[Guest d'Kong76]

And I said hope they're not spending time on STUFF like this,
who knows what else they're wasting time on. They should be
in crisis mode, team could fall out of first place tonight, focus
should be on that. More than half the team sucks right now.

Sorry to inject these feelings into a meaningless minor league
trade thread.

[Edgy MD]

Man.

In the offseason, you were asserting that lack of player acquisition meant that they weren't doing anything. Here, a player acquisition means they aren't doing anything else.

We can be certain that the office in charge of scouting and signing a foreign player isn't the same guys involved with Gee's rehab or Niese's lousy fastball last night.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Fine, everything is beautiful in it's own way.

If the VP of the team is telling us about this dude and he's not
in athletic baseball shape and you're cool with it... then be cool
with it.

Don't throw my off-season comments in my face. Man you!!

[Edgy MD]

He's just a guy.

DePodesta made the announcement because he's the head of scouting.

He didn't say he was out of shape. He said he needed to get in baseball shape. In game shape. He hasn't been playing competitive ball and guys signed in May who've been waiting months for the bureaucratic wheels to turn to allow them to play don't typically just drop into games against guys who have had a spring training and seven weeks of games. There are dozens of people working out in St. Lucie, all of them brought in under the supervision of DePodesta. This is one more and I don't think it affects Niese.

Ballclubs are systems with a lot of moving parts, sometimes moving independently, and sometimes collectively. Maybe this guy is to shore up catching depth after they deal off Plawecki and Niese in the buig Yaseil Puig deal.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Believe what you want... if you thought you had a shot at greener
pastures (and Port St. Lucie and The Bigs are much greener than the
Cuban National Team) and you were in line for that shot would you let
your spelling, grammar, and typing skills diminish? No, you'd show up
ready to hit the ground running in hopes of getting The Big Call.

When they're approaching .500 in July I'll remind us about that week
in May when we went shopping in Cuba for old out-of-shape catchers.

[Edgy MD]

I'm looking forward to it.

[Frayed Knot]

I heard this catcher only has one leg. Is this true?

[Benjamin Grimm]

They were too busy to try to find a catcher with two legs.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

What the hell? They should be shopping for pitchers who throw 300 miles an hour, and they waste time on one-legged catchers. No wonder they suck.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Frayed Knot wrote: I heard this catcher only has one leg. Is this true?

But can he preform all baseball activities on it? Sliding must
be a bit of bitch.

[ashie62]

He is a competitive ballroom dancer.

[Lefty Specialist]

When I first saw this I thought it was 'Lednier Ricardo, International Man of Mystery'.

And I thought, YEAH BABY!!!!!!