Orioles To Sign Naykel Cruz
The Orioles have agreed to a deal with Cuban left-hander Naykel Cruz, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. The contract is pending a physical. Cruz is expected to report to High-A or Double-A once the signing is official, Romero adds.
The 25-year-old Cruz held a showcase for big league teams back in November. He pitched in parts of four seasons in the Cuban National Series — Cuba’s top professional league — and was a member of Team Cuba in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (though he only pitched two-thirds of an inning in that tournament). The southpaw has also briefly appeared in the Mexican League, pitching in seven games back in the 2022 season.
During his four seasons in Cuba’s top league, Cruz posted a 4.18 ERA with shaky strikeout and walk rates of 19.1% and 15.4%, respectively. Prior to that offseason showcase, Romero wrote that Cruz had bumped his velocity from the 91-92 mph he averaged during his days pitching in the CNS to 94-95 mph.
Cruz’s age and previous experience in CNS make him eligible to sign as a professional rather than an amateur. That doesn’t mean he’s required to sign a major league deal, however. In all likelihood, he’s signing a minor league pact for a yet-unknown bonus.
By all accounts, Cruz isn’t an especially high-profile prospect, though that hardly means he can’t contribute at the big league level. Plenty of players who signed as international prospects and received middling bonuses have developed into major leaguers. Given his age, prior experience, the fact that he was eligible to sign as a professional and the fact that he could potentially go right to Double-A, Cruz is a bit more notable than many shot-in-the-dark international signings. It’s hardly likely that he pitches for the Orioles later this season, but it’s also not entirely out of the realm of possibility, especially given the state of Baltimore’s pitching staff at the moment.
Naykel Cruz To Hold Showcase For Interested Clubs
Cuban left-hander Naykel Cruz is going to hold a showcase for interested clubs next week in the Dominican Republic, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. Last week, Romero relayed on X that the lefty was expected to sign as a professional rather than an amateur and had interest from six MLB clubs.
During his time in the Cuban National Series, Cruz tossed 241 1/3 innings, allowing 4.18 earned runs per nine. He struck out 205 of the 1,074 batters he faced, a rate of 19.1%. He also gave out walks 15.5% of the time. In his most recent season, he was fairly similar with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 15.8% walk rate. He made Cuba’s roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, though made just one appearance which lasted two thirds of an inning.
While the stats might not jump out, Romero relays that Cruz was throwing 90-92 miles per hour during his time in Cuba but has been able to increase that to the 94-95 mph range more recently. He also throws a curveball, sinker and changeup.
Per MLB rules, players coming from foreign leagues such as those in Japan, Korea or Cuba are considered “amateurs” until they are both 25 years old and have played six professional seasons. According to his Baseball Reference page, Cruz turned 25 in September and started playing in the Cuban National Series in 2019.
The distinction can often be important for a player’s earning power, seen most starkly with players coming over from Japan. Yoshinobu Yamamoto waited until he was considered a professional to come to MLB and was able to secure himself a $325MM guarantee. On the other hand, Shohei Ohtani came over when he was still considered an amateur and was therefore subject to the hard-capped limits of the international signing system, securing a $2.315MM bonus when he signed with the Angels.
Last year, fellow Cuban Yariel Rodríguez was declared a free agent and was able to secure a $32MM guarantee from the Blue Jays ahead of his age-27 season. However, Rodríguez was coming off a strong run of play in Japan wherein he tossed 175 1/3 innings over three seasons with a 3.03 ERA, 25.4% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. He dropped his ERA to 1.15 in his final season playing in Nippon Professional Baseball, striking out 27.5% of batters faced and limiting walks to an 8.3% clip.
It’s unclear if Cruz will actually be considered a professional as he only played in four CNS campaigns. He also played in the Cuban Elite League, a winter ball league, the Mexican League and the WBC. It was reported by Cuba’s Radio 26 in February that Cruz would play for the Kitchener Panthers of Canada’s Intercounty Baseball League but he’s not listed on the Panthers’ stat page and Romero says that Cruz arrived in the Dominican Republic in April with the goal of signing with an MLB club.
His status may be something of a moot point as he won’t have the kind of earning power to get a massive deal. He is probably seen as more of a long-term project than an exciting finished product, as his tools are more interesting than his track record.
There were less than 50 lefties who threw at least 250 pitches in 2024 and averaged over 94 mph on their fastballs, per Statcast, so that kind of arsenal could be attractive to clubs. That could be enough to get him a shot somewhere, making him an intriguing under-the-radar name to watch in the coming months.