Infielder Orlando Calixte became this Thursday the first unrestricted free agent to agree to sign for the Leones del Escogido in professional baseball in the Dominican Republic.
Calixte, who belonged to the Águilas Cibaeñas, agreed for two years with the long-haired, according to the Baseball Operations department of the Chosen One through a press release.
“We are very happy that Calixte is part of our team and of our plans to win the next championship. Agreeing with him is the first step in what will be an aggressive offseason at El Escogido,” declared José Miguel Bonetti Du-Breil, member of the Board of Directors of the Lions.
Calixte is currently experiencing the best moment of his career. After a great 2022 with the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican Baseball League and one more year of great value for the Águilas, he signed to play this summer with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Professional Baseball League.
With the Sultanes, Calixte had a .344/.406/.554 offensive line, 13 homers, 54 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, 15 doubles, 4 triples and 70 runs scored in 83 games.
The 31-year-old played in 30 games during the Lidom regular season last season, totaling .350 on-base percentage, 2 home runs, 10 RBIs, 5 doubles, 5 stolen bases and 13 runs scored, in addition to a .239 batting average. .
“With Calixte we seek to improve our native offense and at the same time become a more athletic and versatile team, since he can play in different positions. He has been an above average hitter the past few seasons and will help us anywhere in the lineup order,” explained Director of Operations Jaylon Pimentel.
In the 2022-23 campaign, the Santo Domingo native was awarded the Golden Glove in the “Los Dominicanos Primero de Cuqui Córdova” award, a distinction that he also achieved in the 2016-17 tournament with the Estrellas Orientales uniform. He got both awards as a third baseman.