Today's daily defector is Dayron Varona. Varona is a centerfielder from Camaguey. His departure from Cuba was originally reported in November, but that appears to have been inaccurate. Dayron did indeed attempt defection in mid-November, but failed and was suspended. Regardless, he left the country sometime between then and January, and is currently training in Miami. I can't find an accurate birthdate for Varona, but I'm estimating it at between July and November 1988, which would make him 25 years old. He played in parts of 7 seasons for Camaguey.
Varona is somewhat of a local hero in Camaguey. Last season, Cuban baseball started experimenting with a new format. The first half featured all 16 teams playing one another; in the second half, the top 8 teams and the bottom 8 split up and played amongst themselves. As part of the new format, top teams were reinforced with a few players from the bottom half. Varona was chosen to play center for Villa Clara. He was a key contributor in their championship run and gave Camaguey fans the rare chance at a rooting interest in the playoffs.
Another "I" vs "Y" Controversy
When he entered into la Serie Nacional, Dayron was sometimes written as "Dairon." Over the years, everyone seemed to settle on the version with the "Y", and I was abundantly prepared to abide by that decision before seeing this video:
In it, Verona is interviewed about Villa Clara's championship run in front of a sign, presumably made by a close friend or family member, reading "DAIRON CAMPEÓN." Come on, defectors. I can't be expected to fight these battles for you single-handedly. Your agent and his PR people work for you; use them. I give up.
Scouting Report
Dayron Armando Varona Suarez stands 5'9" and weighs 170 pounds. There's not much information out there about him, but he appears to have a particularly strong arm, and he has a scrappy look about him. Visual evidence of scrapitude:
Dayron Varona Stats
| Team | Age | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | CS | R | RBI | HBP | BB | SO | SB% | lgSB% | |
| 2008 | Cmg | 18 | 28 | 27 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | – | 0.52 |
| 2009 | Cmg | 19 | 155 | 140 | 45 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 26 | 3 | 9 | 27 | 0.00 | 0.54 |
| 2010 | Cmg | 20 | 384 | 334 | 110 | 21 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 55 | 49 | 9 | 29 | 50 | 0.63 | 0.50 |
| 2011 | Cmg | 21 | 310 | 262 | 78 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 50 | 46 | 15 | 21 | 39 | 0.33 | 0.52 |
| 2012 | Cmg | 22 | 319 | 290 | 81 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 14 | 52 | 0.38 | 0.53 |
| 2013 | Cmg | 23 | 169 | 150 | 56 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 3 | 12 | 17 | 0.25 | 0.53 |
| 2013.5 | VCl | 24 | 116 | 101 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 0.60 | 0.56 |
| 2014 | Cmg | 25 | 23 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | – | 0.54 |
| Totals | 1504 | 1320 | 412 | 63 | 16 | 38 | 22 | 25 | 205 | 194 | 45 | 99 | 217 | 0.47 | 0.52 |
| Age | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | OPS+ | BB% | K% | lgBB% | lgK% | |
| 2008 | 18 | 28 | 0.296 | 0.321 | 0.333 | 0.037 | 63 | 4 | 29 | 10 | 12 |
| 2009 | 19 | 155 | 0.321 | 0.373 | 0.557 | 0.236 | 122 | 6 | 17 | 10 | 12 |
| 2010 | 20 | 384 | 0.329 | 0.396 | 0.506 | 0.177 | 118 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 12 |
| 2011 | 21 | 310 | 0.298 | 0.377 | 0.462 | 0.164 | 102 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 11 |
| 2012 | 22 | 319 | 0.279 | 0.327 | 0.410 | 0.131 | 91 | 4 | 16 | 9 | 12 |
| 2013 | 23 | 169 | 0.373 | 0.425 | 0.533 | 0.160 | 168 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 12 |
| 2013.5 | 24 | 116 | 0.297 | 0.379 | 0.406 | 0.109 | 114 | 7 | 17 | 10 | 12 |
| 2014 | 25 | 23 | 0.250 | 0.435 | 0.250 | 0.000 | 94 | 22 | 17 | 10 | 13 |
| Totals | 1504 | 0.312 | 0.376 | 0.470 | 0.158 | 113 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 12 | |
Cuban Comps
| Yr | Age | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | OPS+ | BB% | K% | lgBB% | lgK% | |
| Dayron Verona | 11-13 | 22-24 | 914 | 0.305 | 0.369 | 0.450 | 0.144 | 113 | 6.6 | 14.4 | 9.4 | 11.6 |
| Dariel Alvarez | 10-12 | 22-24 | 1020 | 0.307 | 0.359 | 0.488 | 0.181 | 108 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 9.5 | 11.7 |
| Rusney Castillo | 09-11 | 22-24 | 556 | 0.322 | 0.369 | 0.518 | 0.196 | 112 | 4.1 | 12.8 | 9.7 | 11.4 |
| Yoenis Cespedes | 08-10 | 22-24 | 1182 | 0.317 | 0.393 | 0.589 | 0.272 | 137 | 9.9 | 11.4 | 9.9 | 12.2 |
Former teammate Dariel Alvarez actually seems like a pretty good comparison. Alvarez struck out at a much lower rate in Cuba, but Varona is in all likelihood a better defender, as Alvarez was restricted to playing corner spots while Varona primarily played center. Alvarez signed with the Orioles last summer for $800k, which is as good an estimate as any for Varona. His offensive numbers are OK, but not great. Some team may want to give him a look at the AAA level and possibly use him as a utilityman. He has played around the diamond a fair bit, making appearances at 2nd, 3rd, and even one game at catcher.
For more defector profiles, go here.
Comments
The irony of someone writing in English and complaining about spelling in Spanish. …
Just plain BVSQuote Reply
Today, there is baseball.
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
@ Berselius, Cubs #12 prospect:
I thought the Cubs started later in the week.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
The first Cubs game is tomorrow, but there are a few grapefruit league games today that are being broadcast by television/radio/semaphore.
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
MB, who did you send your Cease and Desist, If You Don’t Mind letter to? The actual guy who made and is selling the shirts or the ISP that is hosting the online store that sells the shirts? You can send a takedown notice to the ISP to take it down and, if I recall correctly, they have to take down the infringing image under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. I’m sure the seller is also in violation of the website’s Terms of Service by using their website to peddle copyrighted material. Going through the ISP is much more likely to result in action than going through the individual. There is probably a link somewhere on the online store where you can send DMCA conplaints. Google “DMCA takedown notice”, I’m sure there is a template out there somewhere. Also I don’t know how (or if, at all) you guys have structured OV as an entity, but if Adam physically drew Cubbie Facepalm, then he likely has to send the notice because he is the copyright holder (not 100% sure on this but that’s what I suspect).
Going this route only gets it taken down from one ISP, if you guys really want to stop any further distribution of our beloved Cubbie Facepalm, you really should consider registering it.
GBTSQuote Reply
You might want to mention the possibility of enhanced damages under copyright law, including possibly treble damages. The point of a threatening letter is to spell out your rights clearly and scare the other party into doing what you want. Even if what you want is not enforceable under the law. (Because of the legal expenses, the other party is judgment proof, or because what you’re saying isn’t true, etc.)
A really shitty recent example is when I tried to cancel my at and t internet for being crap. I got an introductory rate of $11 off a month with a 12 month contract. They tried to charge me a $180 early termination fee. I said if I hadn’t have signed up for the lower fee with contract I’d be out $33. So that’s an unenforceable penalty. Their actual damages are $33. They said the language in the contract says, “this is not an enforceable penalty.” You can say all kinds of stuff that isn’t true to intimidate the other party into doing what you want.
So tell this joker all kinds of crazy untrue stuff to scare him into taking it down. Tell him even though you only stand to make $10k on the judgment, willful copyright violations provide for attorney fees and court costs. So you won’t be shy about pursuing it. I have no clue whether that’s true or not, but it doesn’t have to be.
Some guyQuote Reply
I assume the picture on top is Dayron Varona and his little league teammates. Must have been one hell of a team.
EdwinQuote Reply
Shouldn’t this comment be flagged?
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospect wrote:
Scrappy O’ScrappersonQuote Reply
Ran out of time to do mocks yesterday, so I guess we do them this morning. As usual, CHI and SF to start and I’ll take requests.
The simulator still hasn’t caught up with player values, imo, so a lot of these picks will be unrealistic. I usually won’t make a pick that’s TOO far off, though.
CHI
14 DT AARON DONALD PITTSBURGH – You know.
51 S JIMMIE WARD NORTHERN ILLINOIS – Baby Earl Thomas.
82 DE DEMARCUS LAWRENCE BOISE STATE – Probably a round later than he really goes. Underrated, imo.
113 CB PIERRE DESIR LINDENWOOD – Long, feisty DB.
144 QB DAVID FALES SAN JOSE STATE – Needs refinement, but a perfect Trestman QB.
Every time I draft for CHI, I find myself wanting to trade back. There’s not too much difference between the 30th-ranked player and the 90th in a lot of cases.
Donald, for example, is really good, but Dom Easley is at least as good, if not better. There’s an injury risk with him, but I’d take Easley and a second-round pick over Donald in a second.
Like You CareQuote Reply
SF
30 S HA’SEAN CLINTON-DIX ALABAMA – Not as physical as I’d like, but as fluid as a CB.
56 CB BRADLEY ROBY OHIO STATE – Watching drills, I think Roby is in the Dennard/Gilbert/Verrett class.
61 WR DONTE MONCRIEF MISSISSIPPI – My favorite WR in this draft not named Evans or Watkins. Starting to think SF will have to use its first to get him.
77 C WESTON RICHBURG COLORADO STATE – Possibly the best C in the draft.
94 WR MARTAVIS BRYANT CLEMSON – I’d draft him just to play against SEA. Big and fast enough to free up some field.
125 QB LOGAN THOMAS VIRGINIA TECH – SC RB Marcus Lattimore was the guy that made so much sense for SF last year. This year it’s Thomas. I think he’s what Harbaugh wants Kaepernick to be, though he needs some work.
158 DT DEANDRE COLEMAN CALIFORNIA – Crazy athletic 5-Tech.
Realistically, this might be my ideal SF draft. The first four picks are all in the elite group at their position, imo, and the last three picks have huge upside.
Like You CareQuote Reply
Ryno, what did you think of the CBs in the field drills? I thought Dennard looked really stiff. I really liked Phillip Gaines. Do you have any info about him?
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
I have a man crush on Donald. But I haven’t seen much on Easley so it’s possible I would have a man crush on him too but at this point, I want the Bears to draft Donald if he’s available.
MuckerQuote Reply
Scrappy O’Scrapperson wrote:
(dying laughing)
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
I only saw a few minutes of the drills, but I thought Roby and TCU CB Verrett looked the best. I also thought Clinton-Dix looked really good in coverage. He looks like he could play CB if you needed.
Dennard isn’t the most fluid, but he makes up for it with technique and instincts. He can also sometimes be high in his backpedal, but he’s flaws are correctable.
For me, the CBs shake out like this:
Dennard
Justin Gilbert
Verrett
Roby
Kyle Fuller
After that, I like Mizzou’s EJ Gaines (blanketed Mike Evans), Oregon’s Terrance Mitchell, Duke’s Ross Cockrell and Liberty’s Walt Aikens.
I know Phillip Gaines had a good combine, but that’s it. I’ll check the video site and see what they have on him (http://draftbreakdown.com/players/ is an awesome resource for film).
Like You CareQuote Reply
Phillip Gaines
0605, 195 lbs
That website had one game of his, against La. Tech. The first thing I noticed is that, for his size, he’s not very physical. Jason Verrett looks much more physical at nearly 20 pounds lighter. It’s not that he shies away from contact, just that he’s outmuscled. Fixable.
That said, he looked really good in man coverage to me. He ran well with his WR and even peeled off to make an INT in that game.
I’d take a Day 3 flier on him.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
http://draftbreakdown.com/video/dominique-easley-vs-tennessee-2013/
Pay particular attention to the plays where he’s lined up between the guards. I don’t know that there’s a player in this draft faster off the snap. Converts speed into power and is in the backfield on nearly every play.
Same size as Donald (might be a bit taller) and just as fast. If not for his second ACL injury, he’d be a top-15 lock.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
That’s great, thanks Ryno.
I thought Gilbert, Verret and Fuller looked real good. There was also Dixon who I thought looked real fluid.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Just plain BVS:
I’m not complaining about spelling in Spanish. I’m complaining that no one involved asks the players how their names are actually spelled.
GWQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
I can’t watch at work but I’ll definitely watch at home.
If you’re interested, we had our first scrimmage last weekend. I played mostly strong side 3T and NT and made a couple of plays. I got a real good hit on the RB who thought he had a hole but I crushed him into my DE and put both of them into the turf. Ended up getting double teamed for the majority of my time at NT. We are watching the tape tomorrow night but my coach told me I was playing too high so I need to work on that. Any suggestions?
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Edwin:
They were pretty solid. Had a few problems with defensive positioning and effort level, but Dayron has a motor.
GWQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
Dixon was a 5-star recruit that spurned Texas for Baylor. I was shocked by his 40 time (4.62?). He’s another Dashon Goldson clone: Good in coverage, really physical, stupid penalties.
Like You CareQuote Reply
GBTS wrote:
I’ve contacted Adam after finding a pretty good takedown notice template to use. He is probably the person who has to send it and thanks for pointing out that contacting the ISP would be probably be most efficient.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
Sounds fun. I miss playing for sure.
Are you coming out of your stance high or getting stood up?
Low pad level is key, especially when you’re facing double teams. You want to engage your blocker(s) coming upward (it’s harder to block when you’re being lifted off the ground). Keep your arms extended and active to prevent him/them from neutralizing you (did you see CHI hired a martial arts coach?).
The Easley tape is good for tips. When he fires off the line, his torso is nearly parallel to the ground a lot of times.
Like You CareQuote Reply
That makes so much sense.
Like You CareQuote Reply
[img]http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/19gw18dlfsbz2jpg/ku-xlarge.jpg[/img]
No wonder Veras and Wright wanted out of there.
GWQuote Reply
Just curious if they’ve only blocked me from commenting on their wall, or if they’ve disabled comments for now. I can’t comment as myself or as any of my other pages (OV. Six Row, WTF).
https://www.facebook.com/JustOneTitle
I left a comment with a link to Adam’s first posting of the facepalm that I can find and it got deleted. So I posted again this morning and now I’m apparently blocked.
Aisle424Quote Reply
Aisle424 wrote:
Do you have that link?
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
http://obstructedview.net/facepalm/daily-facepalm.html/attachment/dailyfacepalm
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I just posted it on their wall.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
delete
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
Definitely not getting stood up. My stance sucks because I don’t have the knees anymore to get real low in my stance so my first step in my stance is to stand up. But I’m trying to come out of a 4 pt stance to see if that’s more comfortable for me. Even playing with a high pad level, I was pushing the C in the backfield but he would recover and anchor down. I should probably get my knees checked.
MuckerQuote Reply
Wondering if anyone knows of a form that could be filled out by us so that all people here and elsewhere would have to do is hit submit and then that thief gets all the emails. I know with the form plugin we use I can fill out the subject, but I’m not sure about the content. If I could fill out the content part for you guys, I’d have no problem pestering you to just hit the submit button. At least once.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
Andy Greenwald (Grantland) has seen the first few episodes of The Americans. Season 2 premieres tonight. He says it is currently the best show on TV. It’s not too late to get into it. Season 1 is on Amazon Instant.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
Have you tried the stance wide-9 DEs use? Knee braces?
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ JonKneeV:
Sepinwall has raved about the first few episodes. Can’t wait.
Like You CareQuote Reply
I just watched the first two House of Cards. Fuck, is that a good show.
MylesQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
What is their stance? I have sleeves that I bought so hopefully they help a little. I’ll be 34 at the end of March and after playing catcher all through my life, basketball and now being a lot heavier and playing football, my knees have really taken a beating. But my legs are still pretty strong, it’s just that angle in the stance and putting my weight on them when my left knee hurts. I’m going to work on a couple of things this weekend and keep you updated.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Myles:
I’m loving House of Cards.
MuckerQuote Reply
Thanks for running these, GW. Love this series. One question: when you have seasons that are marked ‘2013.5’ or similar, is that the postseason, or does Cuba run an apatura/closura (split season) format?
uncle daveQuote Reply
Stoked about the return of “The Americans” and more of Felicity kicking ass. There needs to be more of that on TV.
uncle daveQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
@ Myles:
Winning.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
It’s split season. They started doing it least year (though they have done similar things in the past with a “Super League”). I used to call it 2013-1 and 2013-2, but the “.5” is more convenient in my spreadsheets. There are approximately the same number of games in the first and second half.
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
Makes sense, thanks.
uncle daveQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
Having trouble finding a still of it. This is the best I could find:
[img]http://cbschicago.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/wide-9-2.png[/img]
Maybe not that drastic, but it’ll put you in position to come up off the snap. Just remember: If your pads are lower, it’s you and the ground against your opponent and the air.
Good luck. We’re all counting on you.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
@ Like You Care:
The worst that could happen is that you won’t get dinner for 2 or 288 days.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
I appreciate it Ryno. My stance is very similar to the NT in that still but I have a little wider base. The C I was going up against was under 6’0 tall so me being 6’3, it was hard to get up under his pads. But if I can master getting low, I think I’ll be pretty disruptive.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
Sure thing. Hope it helps.
Like You CareQuote Reply
Looks like draft twitter reads every word…
Like You CareQuote Reply
new shit:
http://obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/mets-red-sox-others-interested-in-cuban-defector-ernesto-molinet.html
GWQuote Reply