Mike Fiers, veteran pitcher of 11 MLB seasons, signs with Mexico's Leones de Yucatan

Mike Fiers, a veteran right-handed pitcher with appearances in 11 big-league seasons, has signed a contract with Leones de Yucatan of the Mexican Baseball League, according to an announcement from the team. 

Fiers, 36 years old, appeared in just two games last season because of hip and elbow injuries. He wasn't particularly effective in those outings, surrendering 15 hits (including four home runs) and eight runs over the span of 9 1/3 innings. Fiers had previously established himself as an above-average starter, amassing a 105 ERA+ and a 2.36 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first two full seasons with the Oakland Athletics.

Should Fiers' trip to Mexico mark the end of his big-league career, he'll have finished with a 4.07 ERA (101 ERA+) and a 2.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 218 appearances, with 199 of them coming as a starter. His contributions were worth an estimated 11.6 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference's calculations. 

Those numbers are by no means Hall-of-Fame-caliber, but they're respectable from someone whose game was based around deception and command, and who was originally selected with the 676th pick in their draft year. 

Of course, Fiers' career will always be remembered for other reasons, too. He was the individual who blew the whistle on the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal, revealing to Evan Drellich of The Athletic how his teammates would signal to the batter what pitch was coming by banging on a trash can.

In addition to the Athletics and the Astros, Fiers also made appearances with the Detroit Tigers and the Milwaukee Brewers, the team with whom he reached the majors and spent the most time with during his big-league career.

Last year's Yucatan roster included several former big-league players, including Radhames Liz, Logan Ondrusek, and Manny Parra. Fiers and Parra happened to be teammates during their shared time with the Brewers.