Former New York Yankees farmhand Angel Obando has signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reported Thursday.
Obando, from Managua, Nicaragua, parted ways with the Yankees in 2020 after two seasons with the Yankees Dominican Summer League affiliate, where he posted a 3.88 ERA in 48 2/3 innings over 14 appearances. He announced his retirement after a single appearance in 2019, but returned to the Yankees in 2020, where he was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Yankees but never made an appearance due to the Covid-19 Pandemic ending the minor league baseball season.
For the last two years, Obando pitched for the Gigantes de Rivas in Nicaragua’s Liga de Beisbol Profesional Nacional and its successor, posting a 2.88 ERA in 26 appearances over two seasons, throwing 40 2/3 innings with 43 strikeouts and 28 walks. He was on the Nicaragua roster for the 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers but didn’t make an appearance.
At the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Obando threw 3 1/3 innings in his lone appearance, giving up three runs on four hits in Nicaragua’s 4-3 heartbreaking loss to the Netherlands, which ended with Ozzie Albies hitting the first come-from-behind game ending homer in WBC history.
Photo: Angel Obando pitches for the Gigantes de Rivas in the APBN. (Photo via @laprofesional_APBN and @Angel_buhito19 on Instagram)
