BREAKING
Cubs land Brazilian righty out of Mexican League

Cubs land Brazilian righty out of Mexican League
by - Senior Writer - Thu Apr 25 14:37:16 GMT-04:00 2024

Now, this is a signing you don't see every day as the Cubs continue to amaze the fans with some of the moves they have made. Yes, this is another minor-league deal. Yes, this is more of a low-risk, high-reward play. Most importantly, this is one of those cheap deals that will cost the Cubs next to nothing.

Jed Hoyer has fallen in love with those things over the past few years, and if he can find players willing to accept those types of deals to help this organization win, he won't hesitate to make things happen. Next on the list of strange signings is the move the team made early Thursday morning: the Cubs have signed Brazilian right-hander Daniel Missaki fresh out of the Mexican League.

Seeing the Cubs make stray signings like this throughout the season isn't a surprise, but to see them add a player like this out of the Mexican League makes this intriguing. With the injury bug now making its way through the Minor League system, the Cubs need to make more of these developmental plays, even if they don't always work out in their favor.

The 28-year-old right-hander has been around for a while and has quite a story on how he got to this point. He began his professional career in 2013 at the age of 16 while pitching for team Brazil in the World Baseball Classic. One year later, he latched on with the Seattle Mariners at 17 and pitched for their Rookie League Affiliate in 2015. Later during the 2015 season, he was traded for the first time to the Brewers organization along with Freddie Peralta in exchange for Adam Lind.

Then came Tommy John surgery No. 1, and two years later came Tommy John surgery No. 2 as things went from a promising future to possibly having his career be over in the blink of an eye. After rehabbing for several years, Missaki was given an opportunity in the NPB as he inked a multi-year deal with the Yomiuri Giants. After two successful seasons overseas, Missaki latched back on with the Brazil National team, where he went on to help them win the Pan-Am games in 2023.

However, despite his success trending upward over the past few years, it was this past winter when he firmly cemented himself as being back and healthy. Take a look at what he has all accomplished so far this year. Won Colombian Winter League Serie Final MVP, pitching a shutout in the title-clinching Game 5. Signed with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, and struck out 10 batters in 6 relief innings, allowing one run.

Now, nearly a decade since last playing in affiliated ball, he’s back, and although it most likely won't lead to anything, seeing stories like this is why the Minor Leagues exist. There isn't much to talk about with this player as there isn't a ton of film on him, but one thing worth noting was the 2015 trade that sent him to the Brewers. That means he would've crossed paths with Craig Counsell at one time or another, even if it was for a brief moment.

Whether that means anything or not is a different story, but Counsell may have some insider information on him that no one else has. Seeing what he did this past winter gives you some hope that his performance will be more than adequate in affiliated ball. However, knowing that he has been away from affiliated baseball for over a decade, it's still being determined whether or not his recent success will translate in the long term.

Unlike many pitchers with similar stories, Missaki did spend time in the Mexican League, and from all accounts, the talent level at that league is similar to what you would see in AAA. Ultimately, that may be the Cubs' plan for him once they get him into the system, but look for him to spend some time throwing in Arizona first to get reacclimated to affiliation ball.

The best case scenario is that they see a guy who can go right to Triple-A, and then they monitor for a little while. Although there is probably a little bit of a developmental trajectory on this signing, Missaki is of an age and experience where you’re probably also thinking there’s a chance he contributes this year if he’s a real surprise breakout. With a fastball in the 93-94 MPH range and a decent offspeed offering, Missaki has potential bullpen candidate written all over it.

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