Maxwell León

Maxwell Maximino León Burgos

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 190 lb.

• School South Mountain Junior College
• High School Desert View High School
• Born June 27, 1984 in Mexico City Mexico

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Maxwell León has been a minor league infielder; his father Max León pitched in the majors.

León was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 50th round of the 2004 amateur draft; Brian Reid was the scout. A draft-and-follow pick, he signed in 2005. He split 2006 between the GCL Tigers (.184/.273/.306 in 17 G), Oneonta Tigers (.220/.304/.220 in 12 G), West Michigan Whitecaps (2 for 12, 2 2B, BB) and Erie SeaWolves (1 for 15, HR, BB). He was 0 for 2 with two runs in winter ball for his father's old club, the Tomateros de Culiacan. He split 2007 between the Lakeland Flying Tigers (.299/.366/.371 in 96 G) and Toledo Mud Hens (2 for 6, 2B, BB). He stole 14 bases in 15 tries for Lakeland, fielding .921 as their main third baseman. He hit .280/.328/.336 for the 2007-2008 Tomateros, tying Casey McGehee for the team lead in average.

Maxwell was a utility man in 2008 for the SeaWolves (.313/.431/.361 in 44 G) and Mud Hens (.275/.345/.315 in 50 G), playing all four infield spots and all three outfield ones. He stole 16 bases in 23 attempts. Not a slugger, he failed to homer in 296 at-bats. He struggled in the winter with Culiacan (.228/.343/.342). The utility man jumped around in 2009, with appearances for Lakeland (8 for 28, 2 2B, 3B, 4 BB), Toledo (5 for 31, HR, 2 BB) and Erie (.256/.333/.427 in 62 G). He barely played for Culiacan in the winter (6 for 17, 3 2B, HR).

As a backup infielder for Toledo in 2010, he produced at a .238/.302/.342 clip. His 6 triples tied Casper Wells, Desmond Jennings and Alex Presley for 5th in the 2010 International League. With Culiacan in 2010-2011, he hit .284/.373/.420 and went 11-for-13 in steal attempts. He tied Eduardo Arredondo, Chris Robinson and Nelson Teilon for 5th in the Mexican Pacific League in stolen bases.

Moving to his native country for the summer as well as winter, he hit .341/.421/.673 with 14 dingers and 49 runs in 57 games for the 2011 Petroleros de Minatitlan. In the 2011 Pan American Games, he had more errors (2) than hits (1 for 20, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI) as the starting second baseman for the host Mexican national team; he and Rogelio Noris weighed down the offense. He did drive in a run in Mexico's 3-2 upset of Team USA. In the winter, he was excellent for the Tomateros (.318/.401/.490, 16 2B, 42 R in 52 G). He was among the LMP leaders in average (tied for 5th with Arredondo), OBP (6th, between Flavio Romero and Jorge Vazquez), OPS (8th), runs (4th), steals (9, 7th) and doubles (2nd, one behind Luis Cruz).

León alternated between 2B and CF for the 2012 Sultanes de Monterrey; his batting line was .301/.408/.413 and he scored 74 runs in 96 games. For Culiacan in 2012-2013, he hit .271/.354/.383. Back with Monterrey the next summer, he had a major setback, batting just .223/.303/.324.

Sources include 2011 Tigers Media Guide, 2011 Pan American Games website