Outfielder Yasiel Puig of the Kiwoom Heroes fields the ball in the top of the eighth inning during the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) League opening game between Kiwoom Heroes and Lotte Giants at Gocheok Skydome on April 02, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. Puig has signed with the Estrellas Orientales of the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Staff Reports
World Baseball Network
Former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has signed with the Estrellas Orientales in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana for the 2023-24 season, Enrique Rojas of ESPN reported on Friday.
The Cuban slugger previously played for the Toros del Este in the LIDOM during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, and played one season in the Liga Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico in 2012-13, shortly after he defected from Cuba.
Puig has been out of baseball since the end of the 2022 season, a year that saw him appear in 122 games with the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization. The native of Cienfuegos hit 21 home runs and slashed .277/.368/.474 with 30 doubles and 64 RBI for the Heroes.
He last appeared in Major League Baseball with the Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds in 2019, hitting 24 home runs in 149 games with 30 doubles and 84 RBI.
Late in 2022, Puig reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to one count of lying to federal investigators during an investigation into an illegal gambling ring in southern California. Puig’s guilty plea was later vacated by the court, and the case remains pending with a trial date scheduled for January 16, 2024 before Judge Dolly M. Gee in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.