Orioles have agreed to make a deal with Cuban lefties Naykel CruzFrancys Romero at beisbolfr.com. The contract is waiting for the body. Romero added that once the signing is formal, Cruz is expected to report to High-A or Double-A.
The 25-year-old Cruz held a show for major league teams back in November. He played four seasons in the Cuba National Series (the top professional league in Cuba) and was a member of Cuba’s team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (although he only threw two-thirds of the innings in that game). Southpaw also appeared briefly in the Mexican League, pitching in seven games in the 2022 season.
In four seasons in Cuba’s top league, Cruz scored a 3.18 ERA with a 4.18 strikeout and a 19.1% walk rate and 15.4% respectively. Before that offseason show, Romero wrote that Cruz hit his speed at 94-95 mph on his average on the CNS, hitting his speed from 91-92 mph.
Cruz’s age and previous experience in the central nervous system made him qualified to sign as a professional rather than an amateur. However, that doesn’t mean he has to sign a major league deal. He will likely sign a minor league agreement to receive a bonus that has not been awarded so far.
Cruz is known to be not a particularly high-profile prospect, although that doesn’t mean he can’t contribute at a major league level. Many players who sign international prospects and earn mid-prizes have developed into major leagues. Given his age, previous experience, he qualifies as a professional signature, and the fact that he is likely to do double AA correctly, Cruz is worth noting more than many dark international signings. Almost no possible He pitched for the Orioles later this season, but that wasn’t entirely out of the range of possibilities, especially given the current form of the pitching staff in Baltimore.
