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Cubs make history in signing Bulgarian-born Yoanis Aleksandrov
The Chicago Cubs continue to stock up on international prospects after signing 17-year-old Yoanis Aleksandrov from Bulgaria. According to bnr.bg.org (Radio Bulgaria), he signed a six-year deal with the Cubs, and is the first ever Bulgarian baseball player to sign with an MLB club. Aleksandrov is a right-handed batter who plays catcher and outfield. He posted a picture of him in Arizona wearing Cubs gear for the first time on Instagram on Tuesday.
Cubs are adding another power-hitting prospect to the mix
Aleksandrov raised the eyebrows of scouts last November during a Miami training camp, per bnr.bg.org. That report mentioned he had since been training in Flordia, which seems to be true considering Aleksandrov had posted photos of him on Instagram there in recent months.
At 6’3″, 230 lbs, the kid has big-time power with an impressive skill set. The ball explodes off his bat as he features a really smooth swing. In 2021 he was a member of the Sofia Blues BSC. According to darik.news, he hit a team-leading 19 home runs. He then helped lead the Sofia Blues in the Federation Cup qualifier. In all rounds of the tournament, he slashed .429/.579/1.214 with three home runs and eight RBI in 14 at-bats.
Obviously this kid has a long way to go before potentially reaching the Majors, like a majority of international free agent signings, but adding more young talent to the organization is never a bad thing. The fact that he is already built the way he is at 17 is pretty impressive. It would also be neat to see the first ever Bulgarian professional baseball player have success in the United States.
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Keep an eye on Aleksandrov as he begins his journey as a professional in the Cubs organization. There is limited footage of him online, but the videos that are out there show the kind of swing he has and how hard he can hit the ball. If he does that in the Cubs organization, then there will be much more highlight reel footage for fans to see.