MADRID, Spain.- Iván Prieto, bullpen catcher of the Cuban team who participated in the fifth World Baseball Classic and who will abandon the team before returning to Havana, signed his first professional agreement with the Piratas de Campeche of the Mexican Baseball League for the 2024 season.
The news was announced by the sports journalist and director of the media Cuban ball, Yordano Carmona; and later confirmed by the agent Carlos Pérez, one of the directors of Leona Sports, a company that represents Prieto.
Antillean catcher Iván Prieto signs with the @PiratasCampeche of the @LigaMexBeis for the 2024 season.#cubanball #LMB pic.twitter.com/HEbJAsQtcf
— Yusseff305 ???? (@yusseff305) April 4, 2023
“I feel very happy to be able to help another Cuban in his dreams of playing professional baseball. I am very pleased to have been able to sign Cuban catcher Iván Prieto with Mexico,” Pérez said from Twitter.
I feel very happy to be able to help another Cuban in his dreams of playing professional baseball, I am very pleased to have been able to sign Cuban catcher Ivan Prieto with Mexico. Our agency represents 25 Cuban baseball players
— Carlos Perez (@cperez58) April 4, 2023
At the end of last March, a few days after having stayed in the United States, it transpired that Iván Prieto would be represented by Leona Sports, an entity that specializes in Latino baseball players.
Among Leona Sports’ clients are Cuban baseball players Yasiel Puig (Kiwoom Heroes, from South Korea), Henry Urrutia (Gigantes del Cibao, from the Dominican Republic) and Yorkislandy Álvarez (Baltimore Orioles, from the United States), among others.
In his first statements about his decision not to return to Cuba, Iván Prieto explained: “My decision was primarily for sports reasons because I want to improve myself and I want to try myself in a slightly higher level baseball… I felt like I was stagnating a bit”.
A native of the province of Holguín, Prieto was chosen as bullpen catcher by the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) after the roster that would represent the Island in the baseball contest was announced.
The 26-year-old catcher played eight seasons in Cuba with the Holguin and Granma teams. His last presentation was in the so-called Elite League with the Farmers team.
According to the digital portal Full Swing, throughout his career in Cuba Iván Prieto averaged .287 average, with 36 doubles, one triple and 17 home runs. Plus, he drove in 129 runs and scored 118. His offensive line is .376/.390/.766.
