Scouting Report Yuneski Maya

The 28-year old Cuban defector is making his major league debut after signing with the Nationals; the Mets and Red Sox were reportedly interested, but the Mets got out bid by "the big market Nationals", who signed Maya for 4 years/6.5 million dollars on August 1st. There isn't any pitch-fx data or anything on Maya, so the scouting report is based on scouts reports when he pitched in the World Baseball Classic (7 1/3 innings, 1.23 ERA). In his first year in the Cuban National Series, he won the equivalent of the Cy Young, going 13-4 with 7 complete games and a 2.22 ERA.

He throws a sinking fastball 88-92 mph, and then throws the kitchen sink: slider, curve and change-up. He changes arm angles and speeds based on the situation and the hitter's response.  In a recent game versus the Buffalo Bisons (4 2/3, 1 unearned run on 2 hits), his curveball varied from 65-70 mph. He described himself as a pitcher as aggressive and pounds the strike zone with good command on the corners.

Most scouts view him close to a finished product and as a back-end of the rotation arm, but that's still not bad for a guy making 1.5 million per year and the Mets could've had him for that price. Back in February I advocated for the Mets to sign Maya, but why would they? They were confident in Perez and Maine et al.