Some are already comparing him to the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani for his supposed two-way playing ability. Rising prospect Oscar Colas appears to be the next big name to keep an eye on and even defected from Cuba earlier this year in search of an MLB contract.
We all know the Cuban connection that runs deep within the White Sox organization, so that immediately should be enough to put a potential signing on everyone’s radar. On top of that, Colas posted the following pictures to his Instagram story (@colas_oscar) earlier today.
As you can see on the left, Colas is decked out in Sox gear and answered “yes” to a question asking if he liked the club. He then followed it with the thumbs up, and an Instagram live where he said “White Sox, good” after being flooded with comments by the South Side faithful. If you want to dig even deeper, he’s following guys like Robert, Moncada, Jimenez, McCann, Keuchel, Grandal, Anderson, and the official White Sox team account on Instagram. Make of it what you want, but it all seems to be positive signs at the very least.
So, who is Oscar Colas? He’s considered to be one of the top international prospects out there. The left-handed hitter slashed .300/.353/.511 with 12 home runs, 19 doubles, and 48 RBI in 295 plate appearances (73 games) for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of Japan. Keep in mind, this was back in 2019 when he was just 20-years-old so he was putting up decent stats early, if you put much stock in them. Here’s a few videos of his swing in action:
Colas also has more to offer than just his bat. He’s reportedly working on becoming a two-way player, hence the “Cuban Ohtani” comparisons he’s been drawing. The now 21-year-old still hasn’t made his professional debut as a pitcher, but he’s apparently touching 95 mph on the radar gun according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. It’s hard to say whether he’ll successfully be able to reach the majors as a two-way threat since the pitching side of things is still a work in progress. The velocity is there if he can fine-tune everything. If not, his bat should be enough to help carry him to the next level.
Since he’s 21, Colas will be limited to a minor-league deal under MLB’s international hard cap system. For the White Sox, they had just below $5.4 million to spend last year and could see a slight increase for the the 2020-21 international signing period – which begins on July 2nd. The organization can also trade for an additional 75% of that number once the signing period starts, if they decide they want to make a major run. There’s just a few things to consider here.
First, the White Sox reportedly agreed to a deal with right-handed pitcher Norge Vera, 19, for an estimated $1.5 million back in February. The deal is expected to become official during the international signing period, so we’ll find out what the total contract is worth then. On top of this, there’s rumors of about a half dozen other agreements. So, let’s just assume the reports of these are all true. The Sox will have a dent in their total funds to work with if they decide to get serious.
It’s hard to tell how much Colas will go for, but his young age and skill set will likely draw a lot of interest and demand a pretty penny. For the White Sox, all signs point to them having to go the trade route to increase their cap and compete with other clubs in getting a deal done. This also begs the question, how much do the Sox really want to spend? If they push all their chips to the center on this guy, then they’ll be limited financially until the 2021-22 signing period comes around. Not the best case scenario, unless the scouting department sees something in Colas that’s too good to pass up on.
Money aside, the Cuban connection should continue to be enough to keep Colas’ attention for much of his process. With Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal, and Luis Robert – who interacts with Colas quite frequently on social media – the roster is loaded with plenty of guys to make Chicago an attractive landing point. As July 2nd draws near, expect to hear plenty more on this developing situation.
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