Former All-Star OF Signs Deal with Mexican League Club
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Former Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Guardians' outfielder Yasiel Puig has signed a deal with a team in Mexico, becoming the latest former Major Leaguer to head South of the Border (both Harold Castro and Robinson Cano recently did this as well).
Francys Romero had the news on social media:
Cuban OF Yasiel Puig signed with the Aguila of Veracruz in the Mexican Baseball League where he already played in 2021, per sources. Puig would report in early April.
We heard back in December that Puig was dominating the Winter Ball circuit in Latin America, and though that hasn't led to a major league opportunity, he does get another shot in baseball here.
Puig is still just 33 years old and last played in the big leagues in 2019 for the Cleveland Indians. He burst onto the scene as a 22-year-old with the Dodgers back in 2013 and made the All-Star Game in 2014. He stayed with the Dodgers until the 2019 season when he was traded to the Reds. He was eventually dealt to Cleveland and finished out the 2019 season there.
He did not play anywhere during the COVID 2020 season but played in Mexico for 2021 and played in the KBO in 2022.
Through his seven years in the big leagues, he was always a productive offensive player, boasting a career average of .277 with 132 career homers. He hit a career-high 28 homers in 2017 and posted a .296 batting average in his All-Star season.
He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2013 and garnered MVP votes in both 2013 and 2014.
While Puig is still young enough and good enough to still play in the majors, perhaps his prior legal issues are keeping him out of the big leagues. He has previously been accused multiple times of sexual assault, settling those cases. He also had an issue in 2022 involving an illegal sports gambling operation.
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