Leones de Yucatan add star pitcher Cesar Valdez and slugger Josh Fuentes to Baseball Champions League roster

The inaugural Baseball Champions League Americas will feature four teams representing four professional leagues. Leones de Yucatan will represent the Mexican Baseball League (Liga Mexicana de Béisbol).

Leones de Yucatan participated in their first Mexican Baseball League in 1954 and won their first title in 1957. They would wait until 1984 for their second title. Manager Robert Vizcarra led Leones to their fifth pennant in 2022.

They will host the tournament at the Kukulcan Alamo Park, a venue inaugurated in 1982 and renovated in 2015.

Leones announced a 26-player roster which includes players with international experience such as pitchers Jesus Cruz, Samuel Zazueta, Wilmer Rios (World Baseball Classic 2023) and infielder Angel Camacho (WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2022).

The club later announced the addition of veteran right-hander Cesar Valdez, who starred for the Leones during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns.

The 38-year-old Dominican spent the 2023 season at the Triple-A level for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the latest stop of a professional career dating back to 2005 and which saw him appear in 69 MLB games for the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Angels.

Valdez led the Lamigo Monkeys to a Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) title in 2015 and represented the Dominican Republic at the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Another addition to the roster is Josh Fuentes, who helped Leones win the 2022 title hitting ten home runs in 41 games.

The 30-year-old first baseman, nicknamed El Mago (the Wizard), spent the 2023 season at the Double-A and Triple-A levels for the Atlanta Braves of MLB. He appeared in 149 MLB games for the Colorado Rockies between the 2019 and 2021 seasons.