(EFE) Big Top in recent history.
The announcement closes a circle that seemed to open when the president of the FCB, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, declared during his presentation in office last April that the Cuba team would be made up of those who “love and love Cuban baseball.” That would include players outside the orbit of the state entity.
Until this Friday, the inclusion of Cuban baseball players who work in the MLB was an anomaly. The islanders in the Big Top usually make the leap to the North American league with a residence in a third country, which is why they are considered deserters by the island’s sports authorities.
Pérez Pardo clarified this Friday at a press conference that players who left the national team during a competition were not taken into account, a practice that has become increasingly common in recent years.
Standing out on the list are big leaguers Andy Ibañez, of the Detroit Tigers, Yoan Manuel Moncada and Luis Robert Moirán, both of the Chicago White Sox, and Yoan López Leyva, of the New York Mets. There are also four players from the US minor leagues, one category below MLB.
In the list, the great league players Andy Ibañez, of the Detroit Tigers, Yoan Manuel Moncada and Luis Robert Moirán, both of the Chicago White Sox, stand out.
What differentiates this list from the previous ones is that the FCB had a permit from the US to be able to have members of the MLB in its ranks. As long as they accept.
Asked about the players who declined the invitation, the president of the FCB indicated that these cases would not be discussed publicly. The call also drew attention due to the large absences. Two of the biggest Cuban stars in the MLB, Yordan Álvarez and José Daniel Abreu, both from the Houston Astros champions, do not appear among the 50 called up.
According to the FCB version, neither of them answered the phone when they were sought and for this reason they were not considered. On the other hand, the president of the Federation denounced “pressure and harassment for many players who have been willing to play in our country.”
Although he did not mention it directly, Pérez Pardo’s words recalled the case of the so-called Association of Professional Cuban Baseball Players, a group of Cubans in the MLB that tried –unsuccessfully– to form a parallel national team to participate in the World Classic.
After learning that they accepted the invitation from the FCB, the Association set aside Yoan López and Andy Ibañez, as well as Elián Leyva, who had shown sympathy for the group.
The preliminary call – the final one will be announced in February – is yet another sign of the rapprochement in recent months between Havana and Washington, which has had the immigration issue as its backbone.
The preliminary call – the final one will be announced in February – is yet another sign of the rapprochement in recent months between Havana and Washington
Last Wednesday, the US embassy in Havana resumed its consular services and began processing immigrant visas after five years, when then-President Donald Trump (2017-2021) left it operating at its minimum capacity.
The sanctions were not only political: the Republican also overturned the agreement reached in 2018 between the FCB and the MLB that allowed Cuban players in the US league not to lose their residence on the island or their link with the federation.
Pérez Pardo said this Friday that he hoped that the agreement with the Major Leagues could be resumed and that he saw in the preparation of this team an important step in that direction.
Cuba’s participation in the Classic has raised expectations among managers, aware that the sport –Cultural Heritage on the Island– has been in low hours for years, marked, above all, by the desertions of young talents.
According to specialized journalist Francys Romero, and author of the book El sueño y la realidad: emigration stories from Cuban baseball (1960-2018), at least 120 Cuban baseball players left the island in 2022 “by various means.”
Cuba ended the year without winning a single international tournament out of the nine it played. The drought has already exceeded six years. The last time the Cubans won an international title – not counting baseball – was in 2016, when they won the under-15 world championship.
The Cuban team – winner of three gold medals – did not qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games either.
The World Classic will take place in Japan, Taiwan and the United States and will start on March 8 when Cuba faces the Netherlands. Before the start of the tournament, the Cuban team will have preparation matches in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Japan in February.
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