It was an exciting week for three LIDOM players who signed minor league deals. The first deal, with the New York Yankees and Estrellas Orientales Nicaraguan outfielder Ismael Munguia on December 17, was reported by Fernando Rayo of TN8 Nicaragua.
https://x.com/Rayo2Fer/status/1869184638846906686
Munguia, 26, is a left-handed hitting outfielder, who signed an MiLB deal with the San Francisco Giants in 2015. He has never made it to MLB but has made it as high as the Giants Triple-A affiliate, the Richmond Flying Squirrels this past season. At the end of the year he elected to become a free agent.
His MiLB career numbers are 26 home runs, 233 RBI, 82 stolen bases, and a slash line of .293/.359/.412 in 1,923 at-bats.
He was set to play in the 2020 World Baseball Classic with Nicaragua, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is his first season playing in LIDOM, and he has 15 RBI, 12 stolen bases, a 289 batting average, and an OPS of .738 in 121 at-bats.
The other two deals were with two Dominican pitchers on December 20. Julian Fernández is a righty that has pitched for Estrellas Orientales this winter and agreed to a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers that includes a non-roster invitee to Spring Training per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
https://x.com/FabianArdaya/status/1870160746861990096
Fernández, 29, signed with the Colorado Rockies as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2012. He made his MLB debut with them in 2021 and never made it back to MLB again. He has been pitching in LIDOM for four winters and he spent his first two with Àguilias Cibaeñas.
His LIDOM numbers for his career are 85.1 innings, 86 strikeouts, 3.27 ERA, and 20 saves.
MLB insider Mike Rodriguez reported that Águilias Cibaeñas left-handed pitcher Enny Romero signed a MiLB deal with the San Francisco Giants on December 20. Romero, 33, is the best of the three players and could be in line to win LIDOM pitcher of the year with a 1.17 ERA, which leads LIDOM. He has 38 strikeouts in 41 innings pitched.
https://x.com/mikedeportes/status/1870148017472344086
Romero has five years of MLB experience from 2013-2018 and spent the 2014 season in the minor leagues. Romero was once a top prospect for the Tampa Bay Rays and represented them in the 2012 MLB All-Star futures games. He spent three seasons with the Rays and signed with the Washington Nationals before the 2017 season and hit 102 mph with them in an MLB game.
He was on the 2017 WBC roster for the Dominican Republic but didn’t pitch in any games.
Romero played with the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2018 season and never made it back to MLB. He spent four seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons and Chiba Lotte Mariners.
He has also played 11 seasons in LIDOM and this is his first one with Águilas Cibaeñas.
