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Hector Mendoza

Cardinals Sign Cuban RHP Hector Mendoza

By Steve Adams | June 7, 2017 at 11:58am CDT

11:58am: MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (via Twitter) that it’s a minor league deal for Mendoza, who will receive a $500K signing bonus. As previously noted, that doesn’t come with a luxury tax since Mendoza is exempt from bonus pools, making his addition is a relatively low-cost pick up for St. Louis.

9:37am: The Cardinals announced that they’ve agreed to terms with 23-year-old right-hander Hector Mendoza. The Cuban native, who is being represented by Wasserman, was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball back in January and is reportedly exempt from international bonus pools. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though his exemption means that the Cards were free to sign him to a Major League contract.

Though Mendoza falls shy of the requisite five years of pro experience in Cuba that MLB requires for bonus pool exemption, El Nuevo Herald’s Jorge Ebro reported in January that the league determined that Mendoza can be considered a professional rather than an amateur due to brief stints in Japan across parts of two separate seasons (combined with his four years in Cuba).

Baseball America’s Ben Badler connected the Cardinals to Mendoza over the weekend (subscription required and strongly recommended), noting that while he once was one of the more promising young arms on Cuba, he’s struggled Japan and had durability issues in Cuba. Per Badler, Mendoza has a three-pitch starter’s repertoire, including a 94 mph fastball, when he’s at his best. However, scouts who’ve seen him recently offer mixed reports and peg him as a potential reliever. Badler suggests that he’s currently ready to pitch at Class-A Advanced or Double-A. That could conceivably make him an option for the Redbirds later this season, depending on how quickly he’s able to join a minor league affiliate and how he fares once he returns to competitive ball.

In parts of six professional seasons between the Cuban National Series and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Mendoza has a 2.95 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9. Control issues seem to have always been a problem for the righty, based on his yearly walk rates, but he’s also consistently managed to post solid ERAs and did have a successful run as the closer for Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud in the 2013-14 campaign.

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2016-17 International Prospects 2016-17 International Signings St. Louis Cardinals Transactions Hector Mendoza

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NL Notes: Marlins, Padres, Cardinals

By Connor Byrne | June 3, 2017 at 6:23pm CDT

Marlins right-hander Edinson Volquez threw the first no-hitter of the 2017 season on Saturday, tossing a 10-strikeout, two-walk gem against the Diamondbacks en route to a 3-0 victory. He accomplished the feat on what would have been the 26th birthday of late Royals righty Yordano Ventura, who passed away in a car crash in the Dominican Republic over the winter. Volquez, also a native of the Dominican, was friends with Ventura and teammates with him in Kansas City from 2015-16. Volquez paid tribute to Ventura on Instagram prior to the game and dedicated the performance to both Ventura and late Marlins ace Jose Fernandez afterward (Twitter link via Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star).

More from Miami and two other NL cities:

  • Although Padres righty Jered Weaver has been among the majors’ worst starters this season, the club isn’t ready to give up on the soft-tossing 34-year-old, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres’ hope is that Weaver will be able to competently eat innings when he’s ready to return from the disabled list. Weaver hit the DL on May 20 with left hip inflammation, a condition the ex-Angel says has been dealing with “for three or four years now.” Before landing on the shelf, Weaver recorded a 7.44 ERA and a 7.99 FIP over nine starts – all Padres losses – and 42 1/3 innings.
  • The Cardinals are candidates to add Cuban righty Hector Mendoza, who’s eligible to sign with a major league organization July 2, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription required and recommended). The 23-year-old Mendoza is exempt from bonus pools, meaning the Cardinals won’t have to pay an overage tax if they sign him, notes Badler. Mendoza, who has pitched in both Cuba and Japan, features “a three-pitch starter’s mix,” per Badler, though he’s likely to end up in the bullpen if he cracks the majors.
  • Marlins reliever Junichi Tazawa’s recovery from the rib issue that has sidelined him since mid-May hit an unusual snag, relays Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Japanese righty’s interpreter quit, thereby delaying his rehab assignment as the Marlins looked for a replacement. The club didn’t want to Tazawa to go it alone in Jupiter, Fla., “and potentially get lost or confused,” writes Jackson.
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2017-18 International Prospects Miami Marlins San Diego Padres St. Louis Cardinals Edinson Volquez Hector Mendoza Jered Weaver Junichi Tazawa

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Cuban Right-Hander Hector Mendoza Declared Free Agent By MLB

By Steve Adams | January 24, 2017 at 7:39pm CDT

Right-hander Hector Mendoza has been declared a free agent and can now sign with any club, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez adds (via Twitter) that the 22-year-old Cuban hurler is expected to wait until his 23rd birthday (March 5) to sign, as he’ll be exempt from international bonus pools at that point. Per Ebro, Mendoza is being represented by Wasserman.

Mendoza was pitching for the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball but left Japan last October in order to pursue Major League free agency. There’s been little word on him since that time, but given the fact that he’s been declared a free agent, it’s safe to assume he’s established residency in a new country in the four months since that report.

While Mendoza falls shy of the required five pro seasons in a foreign professional league to meet the standard requirement for bonus pool exemption, Baseball America’s Ben Badler writes that the Cuban baseball federation’s decision to loan Mendoza to the Yomiuri Giants for parts of two seasons constituted an additional season of professional work. Ebro also notes that Mendoza was on his Cuban roster but didn’t pitch in the 2015-16 season, which added to his case. (The recent collective bargaining agreement stipulated that players must be at least 25 years of age, but that rule will not come into effect until the 2017-18 signing period.)

As Badler points out, had Mendoza fallen under international bonus pools, he’d have been ineligible to sign with the Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees, Angels, Blue Jays, D-backs, Giants, Rays and Royals due to the fact that each substantially exceeded their allotment in one of the two previous signing periods. Those teams, now, will of course be eligible to sign him once March 5 arrives.

Badler lists Mendoza at 6’3″ and 195 pounds and notes that he’s worked as a closer during his career in Cuba but has a starter’s repertoire and could develop as such with a big league team. In 149 2/3 innings as a pro in Cuba and Japan, Mendoza has a 2.95 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9. Badler has previously rated Mendoza as one of the 15 best prospects in Cuba (subscription required and strongly recommended), writing back in April 2015 that he has a 90-94 mph fastball and good in-zone command and strike-throwing ability. (Much of Mendoza’s struggles with his control came earlier in his career when he was a teenager.) He’s also displayed a solid-average curve and was working on a changeup as of that report from Badler.

Certainly, given the lengthy absence from a game setting (the 2014-15 season was his last full campaign), Mendoza will require some additional time in the minor leagues before he’s ready to help a Major League club. Exactly how much time will be dependent on whether the team that ultimately signs him views Mendoza as a starter or reliever, and the interest in him in those various roles figures to become clearer over the next five weeks as his 23rd birthday approaches.

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2016-17 International Prospects Hector Mendoza

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Cuban Right-Hander Hector Mendoza To Pursue MLB Free Agency

By Steve Adams | October 5, 2016 at 7:47pm CDT

Right-hander Hector Mendoza, a Cuban-born right-hander who had been pitching for the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball, has left Japan and will pursue Major League free agency, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald. Mendoza will head to an unknown third country to establish residency as the next part of the process.

The 22-year-old Mendoza won’t turn 23 until next May and has just four seasons of experience in the Cuban National Series, so he’ll be subject to international spending limitations. The bulk of his professional experience playing in Cuba and Japan has come out of the bullpen (some as a closer), where he’s pitched to a 2.95 ERA with a 110-to-88 K/BB ratio in 149 2/3 innings. Those numbers don’t look especially eye-catching, but Mendoza comes with plenty of upside all the same, as Baseball America’s Ben Badler ranked him among the top 15 available talents in April 2015 (subscription required and recommended). At the time, Badler wrote that Mendoza could make the transition from the bullpen to the Majors and praised his 90-94 mph fastball, strike-throwing ability and in-zone command. Mendoza also has an average curveball that flashes plus, per Badler, and as of that scouting report, was making progress on a changeup as well. While Baseball-Reference lists him at 6’2″ and 176 pounds, Badler wrote after seeing him at the PanAm Games in July 2015 that he was up to 6’3″ and 195 pounds. Considering his age, it seems fair to suggest that Mendoza could continue to add to his frame.

It’s impossible at this juncture to put a timeline on Mendoza’s path to MLB free agency. It’s not uncommon for Cuban prospects to require upwards of a year — and in some cases, even longer — to ultimately secure free agency. As Ebro points out, many Cuban defectors ultimately establish residency in the Dominican Republic or Haiti before they’re cleared as free agents by Major League Baseball, but little is known about the path that Mendoza will take. If Mendoza does ultimately land with a big league club, though, he’ll require a fair bit of time in the minor leagues. He hasn’t pitched regularly in Cuba’s top league since the 2013-14 season, and while he’s made a handful of appearances in international tournaments and in Japan, he’ll need further development and ample opportunity to shake off some rust.

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2016-17 International Prospects Hector Mendoza

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