Orioles contratan a Henry Urrutia

By Ben Badler

The Orioles have signed Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia to a minor league contract with a bonus of $778,500.
Since Urrutia turned 25 in February and has played at least three seasons in Cuba's top league, his bonus will not count against Baltimore's $2.9 million bonus pool for the 2012-13 international signing period.
Here is Baseball America's scouting report on Urrutia from January:
"Urrutia, 24, is the son of Ermidelio Urrutia, a former Cuban national team outfielder who played in the 1992 Olympics and several other international competitions. From 2006-2010, Ermidelio was a manager in Serie Nacional for Las Tunas, the team Henry played for from his debut season in 2005-06 until his final season in 2009-10. Henry Urrutia batted .397/.461/.597 in 305 at-bats with 12 home runs and more walks (32) than strikeouts (23) his last year in Cuba, tying for ninth in the league in OBP.
A 6-foot-3, 180-pound switch-hitter, Urrutia is a corner outfielder with a solid, level stroke that produces line drives, with a better swing plane from the left side. He has solid bat-to-ball ability and average power. While there's not much projection remaining, Urrutia's body does have some room to fill out, so he could add more pop, but he doesn't have prototypical power for a corner outfielder. He's a good athlete for a corner outfielder and just around an average runner. He could begin his career in Double-A."
Urrutia was represented by Bart Hernandez.