The New York Yankees and Tabasco Olmecas held a joint press conference Thursday in Villahermosa to announce the assignment of 17-year-old pitcher Rafael Ordaz to the Yankees organization. A native of Yucatan, Ordaz was signed to an Olmecas contract in 2010 by Tabasco scout Juan Carlos Uribe.Yankees scout Lee Sigman was quoted as saying that New York has followed Ordaz since 2009, and that his 89-90 MPH fastball could potentially reach 94. The Yanks will ship the righty to their academy in the Dominican Republic within the next couple of weeks.
Olmecas owner Jose Enrique Rovirosa has visions of swinging similar deals in the future. He said at the press conference that the Yankees and Tabasco have signed an agreement to strengthen relations between the two organizations, and that "in the near future we will have several tryouts in which other major league ornagizations will come and see more young Mexican talent." As is the custom in Mexican baseball, Ordaz' playing rights were held by the Olmecas even before he signed with them two seasons ago, requiring the Yankees to first negotiate with Tabasco for the chance to sign Ordaz.
Although the Olmecas used 33 pitchers last year, Ordaz never appeared in a game for the 50-55 club.
Interesting news. How did the Olmecas hold Ordaz' playing rights before he had signed a contract? Does Mexico have a draft? It seems incredible that players as young as 14 or 15 can be owned by Mexican teams.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see MLB making in roads in Mexico. Seems like a real dearth of Mexican talent at the Major Leagues.
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