Rusney Castillo, a Cuban outfielder who defected to Haiti six months ago, has agreed to a record Major League Baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox, multiple reports say.
The league's website and ESPN reported on Friday that the Red Sox won a bidding war for the talented 27-year-old Caribbean standout, the latest defector from the Communist island to make his way to the US major leagues.
The Red Sox have not confirmed the deal, saying only that they have been in talks with Castillo. Almost all major league clubs attended his workout in July at Miami.
Reports differed on the value of the deal, either six years at $US72 million ($A77.90 million) or seven years at $US72.5 million ($A78.44 million).
The richest deal for an amateur player such as Castillo in major league history was a six-year contract worth $US68 million for Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox.
Castillo would take his place in the Red Sox outfield in the next few days alongside another Cuban defector, Yoenis Cespedes.
US government officials cleared Castillo in July to make a deal and Major League Baseball has declared him a free agents.
Cuban defectors typically establish residency in nations other than the United States, making them free agents available to the highest bidder rather than subject to being taken in the annual draft of amateur talent, typically collegians.
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