LIDOM: Aguilas Cibaenas Bringing Back Aderlin Rodriguez; Montero and Familia Join Bullpen

The Aguilas Cibaenas are returning a powerful bat to their lineup for the 2025-26 season, with Aderlin Rodriguez returning to the black and gold this winter.

Rodriguez, a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has played 12 seasons in LIDOM with the Gigantes del Cibao, Leones del Escogido, and Aguilas Cibaenas, and has hit 27 career homers with 89 RBIs in 189 games in the Dominican winter league.

Last winter was his first with the Aguilas, and Rodriguez hit eight homers and drove in 28 runs in 36 games while batting .323/.375/.581 with a .956 OPS.

This summer, the 33-year-old is in his third season in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, splitting the year between the Toros de Tijuana and the Bravos de Leon, where he leads the league with 35 homers through 87 games in the regular season and is batting .341/.371/.706 with a 1.077 OPS.

He last appeared in affiliated baseball in 2022, when he hit 12 homers in 45 games with the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Triple-A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres.

Coaching Staff for 2025-26 announced – The Aguilas have named several familiar faces to their coaching staff for the upcoming season.

Luis Urueta will serve as manager, while former MLB player Melky Cabrera will be the assistant manager. Miguel Tejada and Rafael Furcal will serve as mentor coaches, with Joel Noboa will be the bench coach. Andy Fermin will be the first base coach, while Tony Pena Jr. will coach third base. Jorge Moncada will be the pitching coach, with Yunesky Maya coaching in the bullpen and Jose Zapata will be the assistant pitching coach.

Ricardo Nanita has been named the batting coach, and Fred Landers will serve as assistant batting coach. Adrian Abreu will coach the catchers, Alex Cultice is the game planning coach, Junior Fermin is the quality control coach, Fernando Hernandez is the pitching mentor, and Alex Abreu is the head trainer.

Former MLB Pitchers Familia, Montero, Catcher Webster Rivas Sign For 2025-26 – Former MLB closer Jeurys Familia and reliever Rafael Montero, as well as former MLB catcher Webster Rivas all signed free agent deals with the Aguilas Cibaenas for the coming season.

Rivas won LIDOM Gold Gloves in 2022-23 and 2023-24 and has played 12 seasons in LIDOM with the Gigantes del Cibao and Toros del Este, batting .235/.302/.296 with 57 RBIs in 222 career games, and appearing in four Caribbean Series for the Dominican Republic. He played 24 games in MLB with the San Diego Padres in the 2021 season, going 15-for-78 at the plate with two homers and four RBIs.

Familia, who played 12 seasons in MLB with the New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox, has played six season in LIDOM with the Gigantes del Cibao and Leones del Escogido, posting a 3.91 ERA across 29 2/3 innings in 31 appearances. In the Major Leagues, Familia made 561 appearances with a 3.58 ERA over 555 2/3 innings with 127 career saves.

Montero posted five saves with a 1.69 ERA in the postseason for the Leones del Escogido on the way to the 2025 LIDOM championship and has played four winter seasons in LIDOM, all with the Leones, winning the championship twice. Now in his 11th season in MLB, he’s split 2025 between the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves, making 39 relief appearances with a 5.63 ERA. He has a 4.76 ERA  over 12 seasons over 360 appearances, throwing 500 2/3 innings with 498 strikeouts and 30 saves.

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Photo: Rafael Montero throws to the Texas Rangers in a baseball game Friday, July 25, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)