| César Prieto | |
| Team: | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Birth Date: | 10 May 1999 |
| Birth Place: | Cienfuegos, Cuba |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Right |
César Prieto (born May 10, 1999[1]) is a Cuban professional baseball infielder in the St Louis Cardinals organization.
Prieto was a member of the Cuba national baseball team. He also joined the Elefantes de Cienfuegos in 2017. His performance as an infielder and batter was considered one of the best in Cuba. Prieto defected to the United States in 2021 while in Florida for the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[2] [3]
On January 16, 2022, Prieto signed with the Baltimore Orioles as an international free agent for a bonus of $650,000.[4] He split the season between the High–A Aberdeen IronBirds and Double–A Bowie Baysox. In 115 total contests, Prieto batted .273/.314/.404 with 11 home runs and 57 RBI.[5]
In 2023, Prieto played in 58 games for Bowie, hitting .364 with 4 home runs and 29 RBI before he was promoted to the Triple–A Norfolk Tides. In 27 games for Norfolk, he slashed .317/.365/.471 with 2 home runs and 20 RBI.[6]
On August 1, 2023, Prieto, Drew Rom, and Zack Showalter were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Jack Flaherty.[7]