the cuban pitcher Leam Méndez He signed with the New York Yankees in the Dominican Republic, according to sources close to him. Although the verbal agreement occurred at the end of January, the signing was not made official until a few days ago.
Méndez is a native of Morón, Ciego de Ávila and had left Cuba in 2018. After almost 4 years of sacrifice, work and unspeakable vicissitudes in Quisqueya, the Yankees decided to give the Antillean a chance, who has a fastball that has touched 96 miles.
Sources: Cuban RHP Leam Mendez (22) officially signs with the New York Yankees. 6.3″, 200 lbs. He has reached 96 mph with his fastball. Left Cuba in 2018. He becomes the 9th Cuban born player in the Yankees system. pic.twitter.com/G4DJIj9aCX
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) March 3, 2022
The right lanky is 6’3″ tall and weighs 200 pounds. With this contract, there are now 16 Cubans signed in the current international period.
Mendez will likely be assigned to the Dominican Summer League for some time and then move on to the minor league system in the United States.
Before leaving the island, Méndez went through the lower categories in Ciego de Ávila. There in his last youth tournament he left a mark of 1-2, 3.04 ERA, 26.2 innings and 19 strikeouts.
With this signing, Méndez becomes the 9th Cuban to belong to the Yankees MLB system, the 4th organization with the most Cuban-born within its farms.
