Soft-tossing Yankees pitcher chooses bold next destination after Triple-A release

Last November, the Yankees signed Brandon Leibrandt to a minor league deal in what was another stop in the 32-year-old’s baseball journey. 

His journey went international earlier this week, as the Yankees announced that they’d released the left-hander and he’d signed a contract with the ... CTBC Brothers Baseball Club in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Ah yes, just like we all expected. Hopefully this doesn't cost Luke Weaver too much in long distant calls.

Former Yankees pitcher Brandon Leibrandt is headed to China

The Yankees releasing Leibrandt wasn’t much of a surprise, as teams seemingly always part with veterans on minor league pacts so they can pursue other opportunities (the Yankees did the same thing with Dominic Smith earlier this month). 

But most of the time, the other opportunity is in North America — not on the other side of the world. 

Leibrandt made his MLB debut in 2020 when he threw nine innings with the Marlins, and he got a cup of coffee with the Reds last year when he threw 6 1/3 innings in relief. 

He earned that time in the Reds organization on the back of a strong showing in independent ball where he posted a 2.70 ERA in 80 innings with the High Point Rockers in 2022 and ‘23. He was a sixth-round pick by the Phillies in 2014 and also saw time in the minor league with the Cubs. 

The Chinese Professional baseball League consists of six different teams, all of whom also have farm systems. He’ll be joining a Brothers team that also has three former MLBers on the roster in Humberto Castellanos, José De Paula (former Yankee alert!) and C.C. Lee. Each team is allowed to have four foreign players on their team. The most notable MLB player in the league is Yu Chang, who is playing for the Fubon Guardians.

Leibrandt was actually pretty solid in Triple-A for the Yankees this year, as he posted a 2.85 ERA in 10 outings despite not having wipeout stuff. He also pitched well in the spring (2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 innings), but he lost out on the final spot in the bullpen to Brent Headrick, who ironically was sent down to Triple-A on the same day the team announced Leibrandt had signed with the Brothers. Headrick has a 4.73 ERA in 11 games with the Yankees this year.

While Leibrandt never made it to the Yankees, he still put together a solid run in Triple-A, and will now be known for his trailblazing (and unique) baseball path.