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Cuban free agent Yaisel Sierra has agreed to a six-year deal with the Dodgers, as first reported by Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.
Sources: Dodgers and Cuban RHP Yaisel Sierra are nearing a deal. Believed to be for around $30M and would cover six or seven years.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 12, 2016
At first glance, Sierra's deal seems to resemble the deal that the Dodgers agreed to with Kenta Maeda. That being said, no incentives have been announced yet. At the very least, the deal's annual average value is worth $4.3 million. Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman could be finding the next market inefficiency, and found a new way to flex the Dodgers' wealth-muscle.
Most recently, Sierra spent 2012-2014 with Sabuesos de Holguín -- more commonly just Holguín -- of the Cuban National League. In the 199.2 innings pitched with them, Sierra allowed seven home runs, and struck out 159 batters. However, Sierra's issues seem to stem from walks. In the same time frame, Sierra allowed 119 batters to reach base on balls.
The 25-year old pitcher didn't make a single start in his last season, but appeared in 36 games. This could preclude him from starting at least in his first seasons in the big leagues. Especially since the Dodgers rotation already consists of Clayton Kershaw, Scott Kazmir, Brett Anderson, and Maeda with a chance of including Hyun-jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy, Alex Wood, or Mike Bolsinger.
Instead, Sierra likely joins a bullpen led by star closer Kenley Jansen. Attached below is a short video of him pitching, courtesy of Perfect Game USA.
Here's video of reported new @Dodgers RHP Yasiel Sierra pitching in exhibition game in Jupiter this fall @PGWWBA! pic.twitter.com/Lo7lRD1EUy
— Perfect Game USA (@PerfectGameUSA) January 12, 2016