Twins prospect Yorman Landa has tragically died at age 22 in a car accident. It happened in his native Venezuela.
"The Minnesota Twins are deeply saddened by the heartbreaking loss of Yorman Landa early this morning in Venezuela," Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said in a statement Saturday. "On behalf of the entire baseball community, we send our sincerest condolences to the Landa family as well as Yorman's many friends, coaches and teammates."
Landa was signed by the Twins in 2010 as a 16-year-old out of Santa Teresa, Venezuela. He played last season for high Class A Fort Myers of the Florida State League.
The fireballer could hit 102 on the radar gun and had been working hard to learn English, his former manager told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
"He handled himself great in the clubhouse," former manager Jake Mauer said. "He had kind of a funny personality. He didn't speak the best English, but he was improving. He seemed to always be the guy that would have a comment at the right time to make everybody smile and relieve the tension."
Further, Landa reportedly was removed from the Twins' 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft, but gave the Twins his word he would re-sign. The Pioneer Press reports that "at least 10 teams" tried to sign Landa, but he kept his word and re-upped with the Twins.
Needless to say, this is a tough loss for the Twins and all of baseball.
