Although it is still unknown what it will lead to Cuba to the sixth edition of World Baseball Classicsome notes are already emerging regarding the formation of the so-called “Team Asere” towards the main national team tournament in the field of balls and balls. strikeswhich will be held next March in Puerto Rico, Japan and the United States.
If in recent days it became known about a preselection of National Series players who began training in Havana and the refusal of at least three Major League players to join the squad, this Thursday the journalist Francys Romero, specialized in issues related to emigration in Cuban baseball, reported that the pitcher from Camagüey Yariel Rodríguez will be in the Classic with the squad that Germán Mesa will lead.
According to the report, Yariel, a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, will join Cuba on March 1 in Arizona, and during the Classic he will only be able to work as a reliever for a maximum of two innings in each appearance, limitations that are usually dictated by MLB organizations so as not to expose their assets too much.
According to this roadmap, the player from Camagüey will be able to be in the two preparation matches that the Antillean team has agreed upon against the Kansas City Royals (March 3-Surprise Stadium) and the Cincinnati Reds (March 4-Goodyear Ballpark) before traveling to the group stage of the Clásico in San Juan, Puerto Rico. All these movements, it is worth clarifying, will depend on the Caribbean payroll receiving all visas to enter US territory.
So far, so good, a new and important piece joins the “Team Asere”, although in reality it is one of the most unexpected inclusions in the history of Cuban baseball, a change of script that for many was utopian.
The facts
On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, a bomb exploded: pitcher Yariel Rodríguez, one of the protagonists in the V World Classic, decided undertake the trip to obtain a signature with a Major League organization, leaving behind his contract – managed under the protection of the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) – with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan.
The news was unveiled by the journalist Francys Romero and in a matter of hours he found the reaction of the FCB, which publicly accused the player of breach of contract.
Cuba will demand millionaire compensation for breaking Yariel Rodríguez’s contract in Japan
“The fact constitutes a serious breach of the agreement for the 2023-2024 period between Dragones, the athlete and our Federation, which acts as his representative in the agreement. We consider that the decision contradicts the efforts made for Yariel to develop in a high-level league such as Japan, and from there support the Cuban national team,” said a statement from the governing body of baseball on the island.
In the note itself they assured that they would demand Yariel’s rights and responsibilities, as well as the payment of ten million dollars for “damages and prejudices.”
The demand, on deaf ears
As contradictory as it may seem, silence usually marks the speech of the FCB, which often does not find a better solution to avoid thorny issues. That’s exactly what happened with Yariel Rodríguez: after demanding million-dollar compensation, they never again publicly addressed the lawsuit against the pitcher from Camagüey.
The claims fell on deaf ears and the emphatic statements were lost like dust in the wind. It seemed that nothing had happened, in fact, months passed and Yariel’s name disappeared from the media board, until in October 2023 the pitcher He received a release from the Chunichi Dragons, leaving the way open for his signing with any Major League organization.
At the same time, it emerged that they themselves paid the FCB the commission for the Camagüey native’s annual contract in 2023. In this regard, specialist Francys Romero explained at that time that Rodríguez would not have to respond to the demands of the governing body of baseball in Cuba. “In none of the stipulations within Yariel’s contract, section 15 ‘Damages and Prejudices’ is there a reference to the ten million penalty,” the reporter noted.
Shortly after these episodes, in January 2024, the right-hander signed a five-season, $32 million contract with the Blue Jays, a team for which he has pitched for the last two MLB seasons.
Yariel and the will to return
It is unlikely that Yariel Rodríguez would have worn the four-letter uniform again if that return were solely the responsibility of the authorities on the island. Contacting and summoning athletes who emigrated (even through legal means) and broke ties or contracts with the Cuban sports movement has never been the modus operandi of the national federations or the INDER, so these returns depend almost exclusively on the will and express desire of the athletes, whose cases must then be approved by government agencies.
This is exactly what happened with Yariel Rodríguez, who in May 2025 made his position clear regarding a possible return to the national team: “For me it would be a pleasure to share in a Cuban team again. That atmosphere that is experienced with teammates, the desire to win, is not felt again anywhere else. I would really like to play with Cuba again in a World Classic,” pointed out the Camagüey native to the site Full Swing.
From there, the ball remained in the court of the FCB, which at first – last September – rejected Yariel’s wishes by not include it in the preliminary list of 50 names eligible to participate in the 2026 Classic. However, a twist in the script brought the operation to fruition, despite the skepticism that reigned in the case due to the little flexibility shown by the authorities with athletes who emigrated and unilaterally broke contracts managed on the island.
This, obviously, sets a precedent and opens a new chapter in the policies for calling up national teams that could be extended to other sports, also in need of connecting with their diaspora. However, the good vibes that this movement transmits contrasts with the decision not to call players who were not born on the island but have Cuban roots, or others who, although they abandoned delegations, have already served long periods of punishment, including prohibitions on returning to the country.
Studying all cases, making positions more flexible and committed to reaching out to all athletes should be the next step of the Cuban authorities, one that cannot continue to be postponed.
