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Report: Brother of Braves' Garcia defects, eyes MLB

Alejandro Coronado G / Twitter

Highly touted Cuban outfielder Jose Adolis Garcia, the younger brother of Atlanta Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia, has reportedly defected from his homeland with an eye towards Major League Baseball, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.

Garcia will now have to go through the process of being declared an international free agent by MLB before he can sign with a team. It's unclear how long that process could take. When he does become eligible the 24-year-old will be exempt from the league's international bonus pool rules.

Garcia, who has experience playing both center and right field, was ranked as the No. 20 player still in Cuba by Baseball America in April of 2015. He hit .319/.399/.523 with 14 homers and 11 stolen bases for Cuban League outfit Ciego de Avila - the same Serie Nacional team his brother played for - in 2015. He's spent most of this summer in Japan, where he made seven plate appearances with the Yomiuri Giants and spent time with the Nippon Professional Baseball club's farm team before being released.

Before his defection, Garcia was also a valuable member of the Cuban national team. His walk-off home run at the 2015 Pan-Am Games in Toronto gave Cuba a bronze medal.

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