José Alejandro Cardona (born March 16, 1994) is a Mexican 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 ...

for the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey (English: Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball club in the Mexican League (LMB) based in Monterrey, Mexico. Established in 1939 as Carta Blanca, the Sultanes have won ten LMB titles, most recently in 2018. Fro ...

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 signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent in 2011. Cardona is listed at and and bats and throws right handed.

Career

Texas Rangers

On March 18, 2011, Cardona signed with the Texas Rangers organization as an international free agent. He made his professional debut with the Dominican Summer League Rangers, and hit .264 in 39 games. He returned to the team in 2012 and slashed .263/.385/.332 in 69 games. In 2013, Cardona played for the DSL Rangers and the rookie-level

AZL Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is composed m ...

, hitting a combined .282/.351/.363 with 1 home run and 19 RBI. For the 2014 season, Cardona split the season between the AZL Rangers, the Low-A

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Co ...

, and the High-A

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs of the National League in Major League Baseball. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games a ...

, batting a cumulative .306/.342/.393 with no home runs and 21 RBI in 47 games between the three teams. The following year, Cardona played in Single-A for the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans St ...

, slashing .254/.317/.380 with career-highs in home runs (10) and RBI (59). In 2016, Cardona was promoted to the High-A

High Desert Mavericks The High Desert Mavericks were an American Minor League Baseball team in Adelanto, California, that played their home games at Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium. They played in the Class A-Advanced California League. The franchise had eight d ...

, and batted .300/.371/.463 with a career-high 14 home runs and 48 RBI in 101 games for the team. For the 2017 season, Cardona split the year between the Double-A

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

and the Triple-A

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

, accumulating a .274/.314/.377 slash line with 7 home runs and 47 RBI between the two teams. In 2018, Cardona again split the year between Round Rock and Frisco, and also played in 3 rehab games with the AZL Rangers, recording a .254/.314/.358 batting line with 8 home runs and 33 RBI in 104 games between the three levels. On November 2, 2018, he elected free agency.

Chicago Cubs

On December 31, 2018, Cardona signed a minor league contract with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

organization. He appeared in only 10 games for the rookie-level

AZL Cubs The Arizona Complex League Cubs are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays it home games at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. The team is composed mainly of player ...

before being released by the organization on July 4, 2019.

Bravos de León

On July 14, 2019, Cardona signed with the

Bravos de León The Bravos de León (English: León Braves) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. History Cachorros de León (1979–80) Mexican League baseball in León began in 1979 when the Alijadore ...

of the

. He finished the year with León, batting .277/.321/.317 with 1 home run and 9 RBI. Cardona 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 ...

Sultanes de Monterrey

On May 19, 2021, Cardona signed with the

of the

. In 28 games for Campeche, Cardona slashed .291/.345/.373 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI.

Piratas de Campeche

On June 27, 2021, Cardona was loaned to the

Piratas de Campeche The Piratas de Campeche (English: Campeche Pirates) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League (LMB) based in Campeche, Campeche, Mexico. History In 1980, the Alacranes de Durango moved to Campeche, and played their home games at Ven ...

of the

Sultanes de Monterrey (second stint)

On April 21, 2022, Cardona was returned to the

of the

International career

Cardona was selected to the

Mexico national baseball team The Mexico national baseball team (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de México'') is the baseball team that represents Mexico in international tournaments. It is currently the 2nd-ranked baseball team in the world. Current rost ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

(contested in 2021).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardona, Jose 1994 births Living people Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Rangers players Mexican expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Arizona League Rangers players Spokane Indians players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Naranjeros de Hermosillo players Hickory Crawdads players High Desert Mavericks players Frisco RoughRiders players Round Rock Express players Bravos de León players Arizona League Cubs players Sultanes de Monterrey players Piratas de Campeche players People from San Nicolás de los Garza Baseball players from Nuevo León Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for Mexico 2023 World Baseball Classic players World Baseball Classic players of Mexico