With the signing of the contract with the Chunichi Dragons by the young man from Pinar del Río, Randy Martínez, the number of Cuban players who will be present at the different levels of the next edition of the Japanese Professional Baseball League (NPB, for its acronym in English).
According to a report from the Radio Rebelde station, Cristian Rodríguez and the legendary Omar Linares, who for several years has served as the franchise’s hitting coach, will repeat in the same team.
Pitcher Randy Martínez returns with Chunichi to baseball in Japan
The next season will be the left-hander from Pinar del Río’s second with the Japanese club. #Baseball #CubanBaseball #Cubahttps://t.co/qeJmy7GIjN pic.twitter.com/HYm2zZfFW8— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) December 1, 2025
The island’s baseball authorities confirmed that they will work at different levels of the Japanese circuit, in which the legendary Omar Linares will repeat as coach. The figure could increase in the coming days with the incorporation of Jonathan Moreno to the SoftBank Falcons.
The group is headed by downfield pitchers Liván Moinelo and Raydel Martínez, who this year shone on the staffs of the SoftBank Falcons and the Yomiuri Giants, respectively.
Japan Baseball: Liván Moinelo was the most valuable in the Pacific League
Moinelo was a key piece for the Fukuoka team to win its first title in the last five seasons, which earned him the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award of the Pacific League, in addition to being included in the ideal team of that division.
Ariel Martínez from Matanzas also renewed his bond with the Nippon Jam Fighters, despite not having had his most outstanding performance since his arrival at the demanding tournament.
Outside of that trio with a presence at the highest level is Darío Sarduy, who like Randy and Cristian will have to start next year in the Halcones team that ventures into the farm system.
Darío would have as a teammate Jonathan Moreno, a member of the youth national team, who would be signing his contract in the coming days, according to what Reynaldo Pérez Pardo, president of the Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation (FCBS), told the media.
The manager reported that after a year of experience in Japanese territory, the Dragons management decided not to extend the contract of the young man from Santiago Carlos Monier.
In addition, he referred to the importance of these contracts with Japanese professional teams to “raise the technical-tactical level of the players” and mentioned the economic benefits that it brings to each of them and to the federation for training rights.
“It is something that helps us for the development of the National Series and the different categories,” he stated.
Lifeguard for Cuban baseball
The hiring of players in professional leagues through their protection has become a priority for the FCBS, which has seen the numbers entering its coffers multiply to support, among other things, participation in international tournaments of all levels and categories.
Unofficial sources indicate that for contracts with Japanese teams under its umbrella, the entity pockets 20% of the total amount, a figure that would currently be close to 3 million dollars annually.
The largest amounts come from the ties that Moinelo and Martínez have extended, who appear among the highest paid in the Japanese professional circuit.
Baseball: record millionaire contract for Liván Moinelo in Japan
Some calculations suggest that the federation would be earning around 1.6 million dollars per year thanks to the 32.5 million contract for four seasons signed at the end of 2024 by Raydel with the Giants. In the case of Moinelo, that figure remains at 1.3 million, also for the next three years.
The rest of the contributions to the federation’s coffers also function as a kind of lifeline for the financing of baseball on the island, but none reaches the annual figure of 1 million dollars.
Despite the open window with Japanese baseball, and Pérez Pardo’s assertion of conversations with the professional leagues of Taiwan, South Korea and Australia, the bleeding of young players who decide to break ties with the FCBS to begin their own path towards professionalism continues unstoppable, with their sights set mainly on the Major Leagues (MLB) of the United States.
