With the new international free agent spending restrictions set to take effect in four days, the Dodgers broke the bank. Jesse Sanchez and Enrique Rojas report that Los Angeles have agreed to sign 21-year-old Cuban outfielder Yasel Puig to a seven-year, $42M contract. This came a few weeks after the Cubs signed Jorge Soler for nine-years, $30M and a few months after the Athletics signed Yoenis Cespedes for four years, $36M. The market for Cuban outfielders has officially jumped the shark.

Last week we heard that Puig defected and just two days ago he was declared a free agent, but as far as we know the Yankees didn’t have any kind of interest. Ben Badler recently spoke to scouts who didn’t have many good things to say based on his recent workouts, but as Jack Moore wrote, the investment is a positive sign for the Dodgers and their new ownership. I just can’t fathom spending that much on an unknown commodity.

9:00pm: Kevin Goldstein provided a brief scouting report on Puig: “Physical, plus runner, avg bat, avg power, decent in CF, not a lock to stay there.”

11:30am: Via Jesse Sanchez, 21-year-old outfielder Yasel Puig has defected from Cuba and is in the process of establishing residency in Mexico. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 210 lbs., he is tentatively scheduled to work out for teams later this week. Puig’s agent is in the process of getting his client declared a free agent so he can sign prior to July 2nd, when he would become subject to the spending restrictions implemented by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

There isn’t much info out there about Puig, who Sanchez describes as “not as seasoned” as Yoenis Cespedes but with “more experience (at a high level)” as Jorge Soler. That doesn’t tell us anything meaningful, unfortunately. He hit 17 homers in Cuba’s top league two seasons ago but did not play last year because they caught him trying to defect and suspended him indefinitely. Here’s a highlight video edited to make Puig look like a superstar-in-waiting. No word on the Yankees’ level of interest or anything like that, all we know right now is that he successful escaped Cuba.