OAKLAND — Told about the comparisons that young Cuban outfielder Lazaro Armenteros is getting to Yoenis Cespedes and Frank Thomas, A’s manager Bob Melvin responded:
“We’ll take either.”
You can’t blame him for that stance. But Melvin spoke seriously when discussing the haul of prospects that the A’s signed Saturday, the first day of the 2016-17 international signing period.
Armenteros, a 17-year-old outfielder ranked the No. 4 international prospect of this year’s class by mlb.com, headlined a group of five prospects the A’s signed. The others were shortstops Marcos Brito and Yerdel Vargas, center fielder Kevin Richards and third baseman George Bell.