Ronnier Mustelier Soler (born August 8, 1984) is a Cuban former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

who is currently the manager of

El Águila de Veracruz El Águila de Veracruz (English: The Eagle of Veracruz) is a professional baseball team that plays in the Mexican League. Based in Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico, they play their home games at the Estadio Universitario Beto Ávila. Histor ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. He played in the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, or SNB) is a domestic baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the National Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. For most ...

, and in

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

within the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

organizations. Listed at and Mustelier threw and batted right-handed.

Playing career

Cuba

Mustelier played for

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

in the

(CNS), until defecting from Cuba in 2009. In seven CNS seasons, he batted .295 with 42 home runs and 235 RBIs in 295 games played.

New York Yankees (minors)

The

signed Mustelier in 2011, giving him a $50,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. In 2011 and 2012, he played for several teams in the Yankees'

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

, reaching Triple-A with the

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders, are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the S ...

. With an injury to

Curtis Granderson Curtis Granderson Jr. (born March 16, 1981), nicknamed "the Grandyman", is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Ange ...

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 2013, Mustelier competed for a position with the Yankees, but remained in the minor leagues, batting .272 for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre during the season. The Yankees released Mustelier on May 7, 2014, citing a need to find

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s for other players.

Tigres de Quintana Roo

For the 2014 season, Mustelier signed with the

Tigres de Quintana Roo The Tigres de Quintana Roo (English: Quintana Roo Tigers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The team is part of the Southern Division (). The team has won twelve championships to date: ...

of the

; he batted .270 for them in 39 games.

Vaqueros Laguna

In July 2014, he joined

Vaqueros Laguna The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

, also of the Mexican League, where he batted .429 in 38 games. During his time with the Vaqueros, Mustelier was suspended 50 games without pay due to his failure to pass an antidoping test along with him testing positive for a banned substance.

Atlanta Braves (minors)

Mustelier did not play in organized baseball during the 2015 season. He signed with the

on a minor league contract in November 2015. In 2016, he played for the

Gwinnett Braves The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevi ...

of the Triple-A

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, appearing in 117 games while batting .291 with five home runs and 50 RBIs. Mustelier was promoted to the major leagues as the Braves' 26th man for the

Fort Bragg Game The Fort Bragg Game was a Major League Baseball (MLB) specialty game played between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves of the National League. It was held on July 3, 2016 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, United States, becoming the first regula ...

on July 3 against the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

, and returned to Gwinnett the next day, without making his major league debut. He was released by the Braves on March 30, 2017.

Leones de Yucatán

On April 18, 2017, Mustelier signed with the

Leones de Yucatán The Leones de Yucatán (English: Yucatán Lions) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The team plays its home games at Parque Kukulcán Alamo in Mérida, Yucatán. The Leones have won the Mexican League title five times in 1957 ...

of the Mexican League. With Yucatán, he played in 48 games while batting .318 with one home run and 22 RBIs. He was released on October 2, 2017. It was later revealed that Mustelier had been playing with the club as a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

Mexican citizen and not as a foreigner. However, after growing suspicion, an investigation was launched and it was discovered that Mustelier's

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

was falsified. The

organization was forced to pay a $5 million peso (approximately US$250,000) fine for registering Mustelier's fake passport, and Mustelier was suspended for the rest of the season.

Olmecas de Tabasco

On March 15, 2018, Mustelier signed with the

Olmecas de Tabasco The Olmecas de Tabasco (English: Tabasco Olmecs) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. Their home ballpark is the Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero. The Olmecas won their only Mexican Lea ...

of the Mexican League. Mustelier did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Mexican League season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, Mustelier batted .268/.357/.338 with 2 home runs and 21 RBIs in 60 games. On January 4, 2022, Mustelier was released in order to make room for fellow Cuban infielder Lázaro Hernández on the Olmecas roster.

Tigres de Quintana Roo (second stint)

On January 23, 2022, Mustelier signed with the

of the

. In 29 games, he batted .299/.381/.433 with 3 home runs and 13 RBIs. Mustelier was released on June 17, 2022.

Post-playing career

On May 25, 2023, Mustelier became interim manager for the

of the

following the dismissal of

Jesse Garcia Jesse García (born December 14, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in ''Quinceañera'' and '' Flamin' Hot'' for which he won Imagen Awards Best Actor. Career Garcia starred in the award-winning film ''Quinceañera'', writt ...

. On May 30, 2024, Mustlier was named to manager of

of the

Personal

Mustelier has a son, Ronny Jr., who lives in Cuba.

References

External links

Photo of Mustelier
with the

in 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mustelier, Ronnier 1984 births Living people Avispas de Santiago de Cuba players Cuban baseball players Cuban expatriate baseball managers in Mexico Gulf Coast Yankees players Gwinnett Braves players Leones de Yucatán players Olmecas de Tabasco players Phoenix Desert Dogs players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Tampa Yankees players Tiburones de La Guaira players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tigres de Quintana Roo players Tomateros de Culiacán players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico Trenton Thunder players Tigres de Quintana Roo managers Vaqueros Laguna players Venados de Mazatlán players Baseball players from Santiago de Cuba

Playing career

Cuba

New York Yankees (minors)

Tigres de Quintana Roo

Vaqueros Laguna

Atlanta Braves (minors)

Leones de Yucatán

Olmecas de Tabasco

Tigres de Quintana Roo (second stint)

Post-playing career

Personal

See also

References

External links