Texas Rangers sign Luis Yander La O to minor league deal

The Texas Rangers have signed Cuban infielder Luis Yander La O to a minor league deal worth $110,000, according to Jesse Sanchez on Twitter.

Yander, who turned 25 last month, played mostly third base while in Cuba, though he also played some second base. He had a career .329/.388/.406 slash line for Santiago in the Cuban National league from 2009-14.

Yander defected in 2015, and Ben Badler wrote at the time that he profiled as being able to handle AAA right away, although there were questions about whether the bat would ever play at the major league level.

Yander was ranked #10 among Cuban prospects by Baseball America at the time of his defection, described as a “premium, quick-twitch athlete.” Yander seems to profile as a potential utility player if the bat progresses.

Since Yander is 25, he is not subject to the international spending cap limits.

On a separate note, it is good to see the Rangers continuing their trend of signing players out of Latin America with interesting names.

UPDATE — Ben Badler has a write-up on the deal, saying that, while Yander is projected as a utility player, there’s the potential for more upside there, and praising the Rangers for the move.