Cuban Baseball: Ismel Jimenez Signs with Professional Canadian Team

Four Cuban baseball players will play this Season in the Canadian Independent League Baseball (Can-Am), including Yunieski Gourriel, who repeated with Les Capitales de Quebec.

Besides Yunieski, shortstop Yordán Manduley, outfielder Alexei Bell, and pitcher Ismel Jiménez were also hired, published the website of Radio Angulo, in the eastern province of Holguin.

Four Cuban baseball players will play this Season in the Canadian Independent League Baseball (Can-Am), including Yunieski Gourriel, who repeated with Les Capitales de Quebec.

Besides Yunieski, shortstop Yordán Manduley, outfielder Alexei Bell, and pitcher Ismel Jiménez were also hired, published the website of Radio Angulo, in the eastern province of Holguin.

Although Radio Angulo station did not say the hiring clubs involved, it is expected to be with Les Capitales, the same team with which Yunieski Gourriel played last year, brilliantly averaging 321 on offensive. The four contracted players to play in Canada had outstanding performances in the recently concluded 54th National Baseball Series.

In 2015, four other Cuban players: Frederich Cepeda, Hector Mendoza, Lourdes Gourriel jr, and Alfredo Despaigne will play in the Japanese Baseball League.

Besides Canada and Japan, professional clubs in Nicaragua, Mexico, Venezuela, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Europe were interested in hiring Cuban players, according to the Cuban Amateur Baseball Federation (FCBA).

After this piece of news was realeased, it was known that the four baseball players had signed with Les Capitales de Quebec.