Yasiel Puig announced via X that he would return to the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol’s El Aguila de Veracruz in 2024.
Veracruz, me dicen quieren ver campeonato-y pues, 🙋🏾‍♂️#apuntenme #regreso pic.twitter.com/crE2i4152h
— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) March 16, 2024
Puig was sensational in the Liga Venezolana Beisbol Profesional last winter, slashing .418/.518/.846 with a 1.364 OPS, 10 homers and 23 RBI in 18 games for the Tiburones de La Guaira, who won the LVBP title and the 2024 Caribbean Series. In the Caribbean Series at loanDepot Park in Miami, Puig regressed a bit, hitting .182/.333/.364 with two RBI and a 417-foot home run, the longest of the series.
The native of Cienfuegos, Cuba, did not play in the summer of 2023. He spent the 2022 season with the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, appearing in 126 games and batting .277/.368/.474 with 21 homers and 73 RBI.
Puig played for El Aguila de Veracruz in 2021, batting .312 in 62 games with 10 homers and 43 RBI.
He last appeared in Major League Baseball with Cleveland in 2019, and has appeared in 861 MLB games, batting .277/.348/.475 and hitting 132 homers with Cleveland, Cincinnati, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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.
A trial date was scheduled for Jan. 16, 2024 before Judge Dolly M. Gee in the United States District Court for the Central District of Calif., but has been put off while the U.S. Attorney’s Office appeals a ruling that Puig did not violate his plea agreement.
