Cubs reportedly sign Cuban standout Ronald Lazaro Mena

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 2 hours ago

Although the bulk of the International Free Agents are signed during the International Free Agent Signing Day, teams can still add as many International Free Agents as they want throughout the course of the year. The Chicago Cubs are no strangers to that as they have a long reputation of not only adding tons of International talent, but finding talent no matter the time of year.

You saw that again on Tuesday, as the Cubs have reportedly come to terms with Cuban right-hander Ronald Lazaro Mena, who will now prepare for his professional debut in 2026. The 18-year-old has widely been viewed as one of the better pitching prospects on the International market, and should these reports prove to be accurate, he would be the highest-paid International pitcher over the past two seasons for the Cubs.

Still an extremely raw talent, Mena comes with plenty of upside, which you saw during his time with the Cuban U-18 National team last season. What makes this such an exciting pickup is the overall potential of his stuff, as he has averaged 90 MPH with his fastball and was seen touching 92-93 MPH by the end of the Spring.

That alone is worth noting, as he has plenty of room to develop even more velocity, which is something the Cubs are going to be banking on as he matures into a more complete arm. Although he may be the highest-paid pitcher among the Cubs' international arms, it still isn't what you would see in guys like Cristian Hernandez, etc, as he is going to garner a six-figure signing bonus to jump-start his career.

People tend to judge an International signing based on the Bonus Pool money they get. Unlike the MLB draft, where the higher the round, the better the up-front cash, International free agents sign based on when they hit the market. For Mena, the Cubs offered him a higher sum than most teams would, which alone was enough for him to accept the offer.

Knowing the Cubs' history with not only International Players, but young pitchers in general, it will be interesting to see how the Cubs plan to handle his development. What we can expect at this point is another young arm that will be thrown into the DSL next season, as the Cubs will learn firsthand what he is capable of and how they want to develop him further.

The real test will be determining whether he translates better as a starter or a reliever. That is something that you usually don't know until they get into the full-season leagues, but over the past few seasons, the Cubs have been using more pitchers as starters in the DSL to prepare them for what is to come in the future.

As mad as everyone is with Carter Hawkins and Jed Hoyer for how they handled the trade deadline, one thing they do deserve credit for is figuring out a way to add talent to their roster, no matter where it comes from.