I’ll be GW’s pinch hitter, and hopefully he can give Alfredo a more thorough treatment than I can.
Since Jose Dariel Abreu defected last year, the title of “best player not in the MLB” has fallen to Alfredo Despaigne. He is a multiple MVP of the Cuban League, and better yet, he is a corner outfielder. Just how good is Despaigne? Here are his numbers:
| AVG | OBP | SLG | BB | SO | HR | |
| 2004.1 | 0.309 | 0.34 | 0.495 | 13 | 63 | 11 |
| 2004.2 | 0.206 | 0.2 | 0.412 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 2005 | 0.325 | 0.381 | 0.529 | 35 | 39 | 15 |
| 2006 | 0.321 | 0.41 | 0.542 | 56 | 26 | 16 |
| 2007 | 0.364 | 0.476 | 0.717 | 72 | 46 | 24 |
| 2008 | 0.375 | 0.481 | 0.756 | 76 | 45 | 32 |
| 2009 | 0.404 | 0.489 | 0.814 | 51 | 34 | 31 |
| 2010 | 0.365 | 0.459 | 0.717 | 56 | 50 | 33 |
| 2011 | 0.319 | 0.475 | 0.687 | 135 | 57 | 41 |
| 2012.1 | 0.345 | 0.505 | 0.669 | 59 | 25 | 11 |
| 2012.2 | 0.423 | 0.545 | 0.626 | 38 | 19 | 6 |
| 2013.1 | 0.286 | 0.497 | 0.492 | 73 | 18 | 7 |
| 2013.2 | 0.359 | 0.417 | 0.672 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
| Total | 672 | 438 | 234 |
Those are some pretty spicy numbers.
There are a few knocks against him, but not many. He simply doesn’t have the power of Jose Abreu (though in his defense, not even Javier Baez does), and the patience is similar but not at the same tier. Abreu’s patience hasn’t translated to the Majors, and I would wager that’s endemic of any Cuban National that comes over. Sure enough, his MexiLeague line this year is .337/.369/.580. Furthermore, Despaigne is only 5’8″, 215. He can play a corner outfield position, but doesn’t have ability to play center. At heart, he’s a bat-first RF.
A bat-first RF is exactly what the Cubs need. He’ll be 29 by the time he’s in a major league uniform, but you can still milk some prime years from him. Unfortunately, his big-time power years are well in the past. If Despaigne could put together a .250/.320/.450 line with 20 HR and 30 2B, that’s a huge win that costs only money. How much money? That remains to be seen. The Abreu deal is a nice guidepost, but I’d bet the ranch Despaigne gets more. Something like 6/80 seems likely.