Cuban pitcher Yariel Rodríguez, who was the ace for the his team in the World Baseball Classic, broke ties with the FCB and with the Chunichi Dragons in search of a contract with an MLB franchise earlier today, according to the report a few hours ago by the colleague Francys Romero on his personal Facebook and Twitter profiles. Yariel is signed for the next two years with the Nagoya organization (as a key figure in its bullpen ).
According to Francys, Rodríguez is in the Dominican Republic and is seeking to sign with an MLB club. According to scouting reports, the “Gallero de San Serapio” is valued at 50 million and does not have any type of restriction impeding his possible signing because he is over 25 years old and has played six years in a professional league. Rodríguez was solid and borderlining spectacular in his starts in the World Classic.
Rodríguez worked in 56 games and in 54.2 innings of work where he only gave up seven earned runs last season in the NPB. Yariel had a 1.15 earned run average during 2022 and fanned 60 while only walking 18.
Yariel Rodríguez se encuentra en la República Dominicana buscando una firma con MLB. El derecho de Camagüey no regresará a Japón para jugar con Chunichi!!! pic.twitter.com/e5uMg1YPP6
— Yordano Carmona (@YordiMLB) March 28, 2023
During the season he did not allow a long ball and was named the reliever of the year in the land of the rising sun. The righty also tallied 39 holds and notched six victories during the campaign. The only reason the right was not the team’s closer was because Raidel Martínez his countrymen held that role.
The flamethrower’s fastball hit 100 miles per hour on the radar during one of his outings with the Chunichi last season. We will have to wait and see which organizations are interested in him and what role he will be assigned upon signing.
According to several scouts, the man from Camagüey could sign for 10-12 million and 5-6 years, which would leave his total earning over the span of the contract in the range of 50-60 million dollars.