Chunichi Dragons sign 4 players from the Dominican Republic – UPDATED
by Gen on Dec.10, 2009 @ 1:14 pm, under NPB
The Chunichi Dragons announced that they signed 4 players from the Dominican Republic on Wednesday. Two of the players are unidentified and mentioned as being signed to Ikusei contracts while the other two appear to be Dionys Cesar and Edward Valdez.
Cesar is a 33-year-old, switch-hitting infielder who won the MVP award while playing in the Mexican League. He's bounced around in the minors and hasn't played a single game above AAA. While Cesar is an infielder, there's a good chance the Dragons may try to convert him to an outfielder.
Valdez is a 29-year-old, right-handed pitcher that was signed as a replacement for Nelson Payano. Like Cesar, Valdez has never been above AAA and has bounced around a bit in the minors.
Cesar's Career (Baseball Cube)
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | DP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1393 | 5201 | 861 | 1539 | 326 | 39 | 89 | 645 | 249 | 118 | 551 | 880 | 104 | .296 | .367 | .425 | .792 |
2009 Mexican League
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 99 | 411 | 92 | 156 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 58 | 215 | 58 | 36 | 40 | 10 | .380 | .456 | .523 | .979 |
Valdez's Career (Baseball Cube)
| W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SH | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | WP | ERA |
| 37 | 33 | 4.10 | 200 | 85 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 676.1 | 707 | 350 | 308 | 63 | 219 | 525 | 38 | 1.37 |
2009 Domincan Winter League
| W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SH | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | GO/AO | AVG |
| 1 | 2 | 3.00 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45.0 | 41 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 11 | 24 | 1.68 | .252 |
=== UPDATE 12/12/2009 12:52am JST
The other two players are 24-year-old pitcher Candido Jesus (Baseball Cube) and and 20-year-old pitcher Joaquin Santamaria (Baseball America)
Cesar signed a 1-year deal worth US$250,000 and a signing bonus of US$50,000; Valdez a 1-year deal worth US$150,000 and a signing bonus of US$50,000; both Jesus and Santamaria signed Ikusei contracts worth US$40,000.
=== UPDATE 12/15/2009 8:20pm JST
The Dragons assigned uniform numbers for the four players as follows:
Dionys Cesar - 7
Edward Valdez - 45
Joaquin Santamaria - 213
Candido Jesus - 214
