What you need to know about new Cuban free agent Lazaro Armenteros

(Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com) The teenager who could be baseball’s next Cuban star was officially deemed a free agent by MLB on Monday.

Lazaro Armenteros, a powerful and speedy 16-year-old outfielder built like a linebacker, will be up for grabs starting Feb. 10, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Armenteros is a fascinating player, and we can start with the name. He’s known mostly as Lazarito — one name, right out of the how-to-be-a-star handbook.

Last Friday, he put on a showcase in front of 140 scouts in the Dominican Republic, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez, who notes that scouts were impressed by Lazarito’s five-tool talent but acknowledge he was a bit rough around the edges. Then again, we’re talking about a 16-year-old.

The Lazarito talk will start heating up in the coming weeks, so here’s what you need to know about the Cuban youngster:

• One American League scout told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that Lazarito shows signs of Bo Jackson and Willie Mays because of his combination of speed and power. Though, again, he’s still raw. Another scout told Nightengale that the kid has “superstar potential.” An AL scouting director told Sanchez that Lazarito is a “front-line guy.”

• Lazarito was born in Havana, the son of a Lazaro Armenteros Sr., who played on the Cuban national basketball team. The younger Armenteros is already 6-foot-2 and a muscular 205 pounds. In Cuba, he last played on the junior national team and notably hit .462/.611/.962 in the 15U World Cup in August 2014. The Cuban government blocked Lazarito from playing the next year (a somewhat common practice, if they believe a player might defect during tournament play). So he defected anyway, establishing residency in Haiti and working out six days per week to prepare for MLB showcases. He compares favorably to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was one of the top international free agents last July and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Lazarito, as seen in December. (Culture 39) • Where might Lazarito land? Well, it’s easier to start with where he won’t. MLB made Lazarito part of the 2015-2016 international free-agent class (he had to get a special exception, since he missed the May cutoff date last year). Because of that, the teams that exceeded their 2014-2015 international bonus pool won’t be able to pay him more than $300,000. So that effectively rules out the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants have already exceeded the ’15-’16 bonus pool, which means they can still sign Lazarito, but will have to pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on whatever they pay him. (This also happened when the Red Sox signed Yoan Moncada). These teams will face the same penalties for the next two years that the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels and D-backs face this year. So the Dodgers, for instance, might see fit to pay the 100% tax knowing that they won’t be able to sign any big-name international free agents for the foreseeable future.

• At his showcase last week, Lazarito posted a 6.48 time in the 60-yard dash, which is about what Mike Trout ran when he was a prospect. The average 60-yard dash time is 6.7-6.9 seconds.

• The team that signs Lazarito will know he has his eyes on big things. In his interview with USA Today, Lazarito mentioned that he wants to have a clothing line and a line of bats. As for on-the-field play, he said:

“I want to make it to the Hall of Fame, have my numbers retired, and when I’m out of the game, for people to recognize the person I am. Even when I die, I don’t want my name to ever die.”

• Lazarito has been mentioned as the Bryce Harper of Cuba, a reference that goes back to when Harper was a teenage phenom in the U.S. However, in an interview with MLB.com, Lazarito admitted he doesn’t even know who Harper is. He is, however, texting buddies with fellow Cuban Yasiel Puig.

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