Page 19 - Aruba Today
P. 19
SPORTS A19
Tuesday 22 March 2016
Cuban baseball younger brother Lourdes — ning out of time as he was Tampa Bay Rays catcher Rene Rivera, right, talks with Diego Lo-
also considered a promis- (at age 31), he felt he had pez, 9, at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba, Monday,
Continued from Page 17 ing prospect — slipped out to go now or never.” March 21, 2016.
of their hotel at the Carib- Another problem is that
One key sticking point is bean Series in the Domini- Cuba plays in the winter. Associated Press
that while Cuba now al- can Republic, joining the That means players who
lows some players to com- likes of Yasiel Puig and Yoe- also compete in Japan or ing to release (Jose) Abreu ping deals for Cubans like
pete in foreign leagues, nis Cespedes in a string of elsewhere get precious lit- in the middle of a pennant Rusney Castillo ($72.5 mil-
they are legally on loan high-profile defections. tle offseason. race to go play for Cuba,” lion, Red Sox) and Abreu
from the Cuban Baseball Photos posted on Twitter in Senior players like Gourriel Bjarkman said. ($68 million, White Sox).
Federation, which takes a early March showed Gour- would risk exhaustion and Cuban baseball insiders “Every baseball player
cut of their salaries. Pay- riel at the Miami airport. potentially serious injury. say many players are gen- would like to test himself
ing money directly to the At the time he left, Gourriel Sene said authorities al- uinely torn between loyalty in that league,” said Livan
Cuban government would was batting around .500 ready are talking of shift- to the Cuban system that Moinelo, a left-handed
violate the U.S. embargo for Havana’s powerhouse ing to a May-September nurtured their talent and pitcher for Pinar del Rio.
under its current form. club Industriales and was league that would operate the dream of competing “Big possibilities are open-
Yulieski Gourriel became on pace to shatter mul- without players who sign against the best. ing for Cuban ballplayers to
the first big star to go over- tiple hitting records. Some with the Majors. A second, But MLB salaries are a pow- play in the Major Leagues,
seas in the prime of his ca- of that was surely skewed six-team league could run erful lure. In recent years and we hope it turns out for
reer with the island’s full by a decline in local pitch- from October to Decem- signings have netted whop- the best.”q
blessing, in 2014. He made ing, but Gourriel is widely ber when they would be
$1 million in Japan with the considered to be the finest available to play back
Yokohama Dena Baystars Cuban player of his gen- home after the U.S. season
and paid 10 percent of eration. ends.
that to the federation — a “That was a symbolic “I hope that can happen,”
huge payoff for a country blow,” said Peter C. Bjark- Sene said.
where take-home salaries man, author of the forth- “For me it is the solution to
for Cubans average about coming book “Cuba’s the general quality” of play
$25 a month. Baseball Defectors: The In- in Cuba.
But last season he ended side Story.” It would likely be neces-
up back in Cuba after the Bjarkman interpreted it as a sary, because MLB clubs
club canceled his con- sign that no MLB deal was that pay millions of dollars
tract. imminent, because oth- in salaries will aggressively
Then last month he and erwise Gourriel probably defend their investment.
would have stayed: “Run- “The White Sox are not go-
