Cuban baseball players are some of the best in the world and not counting on their talent in the Big leagues it is a sacrilege. Now, Cuban pitcher Yariel Rodríguez is closer to playing in the MLB.
According to the report by Francys Romero, from MLB.com, Rodríguez terminated his contract with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese league and left the Cuban Baseball Federation to pursue his dream of playing in the Major Leagues. According to the same report, the Camagüey-born pitcher left Cuba via the Dominican Republic.
This way, Rodríguez became the first player from Cuba’s official roster in the World Baseball Classic to leave the Federation. The case of Iván Prieto is different because the catcher did not return from Miami, but he was on the reserve list in case of injury.
Age and professional experience are benefits for Rodríguez. As the pitcher exceeds 25 years of age and six international baseball seasons, he has no restrictions on signing with a Major League team. According to Romero, an AL scout revealed that a viable contract offer for the right-handed pitcher would be for five or six seasons for $50 million.
Baseball America included it in the list of top 10 prospects Non-Major Leaguers who participated in the 2023 Classic along with big names like Roki Sasaki, Munetaka Murakami, Jung-Hoo Lee and Liván Moinelo.
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Yariel Rodríguez numbers in Japan
The man from Camagüey played three seasons in the NPB with the Dragons and participated in 79 games as a reliever in which he pitched for 175.1 innings. His mark was 10-10 with 3.03 ERA after allowing 138 hits and 59 runs against 188 strikeouts before the 741 batters he faced.
