The rumor that had set the social media on fire finally had official confirmation: the National Baseball Directorate is working to reinsert into the Cuba team a large group of players who play in Asian and Caribbean leagues, according to the statements of one of its managers to the Bola Viva TV program.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Luis Daniel del Risco, head of the Rules and Arbitration Department of the Cuban Baseball, revealed earlier this week that the possibility of calling to the national team athletes playing at the top tier of Japan, South Korea, Taipei and the Caribbean is currently being studied.
Del Risco said that several players who do not live in Cuba have been considered, but that they could have “the possibility of participating with our team in international championships, based on a series of conditions and requirements that are being put in place. This takes an approval, a study…, but steps are being taken to achieve it.”
The official added that work with legal norms and aspects in being done, and that the decision to take that step is due to popular demand during the consultation process carried out the previous year throughout the country.
He also explained that international experience is being used to facilitate the reintegration of these players in the national team, as well as the procedures followed by other sports (handball and volleyball are good examples) and the protocols that the National Institute of Sports, Recreation and Physical Education (INDER) uses to these cases.
"We are working with intelligence, with great measure, because this is a difficult issue, but we are facing it and the Baseball leadership is taking the right steps to get to this moment, which is what the population expects," del Risco concluded.
Even though the reintegration of any player linked to the Major League system is not contemplated for now, the team Cuba could be reinforced with a large group of top-notch players on circuits of proven quality.
Such are the cases of Las Tunas’ Alex Guerrero, Villa Clara’s from Dayán Viciedo, and the left-handed pitcher from Guantánamo Onelki García, all with experience in the Japan League.
The range of options could also include pitcher Ariel Miranda and slugger José Miguel Fernández, both prominent figures in the recently launched Taipei and South Korea leagues, respectively.
In Mexican baseball, men such as the Las Tunas-born outfielder Henry Urrutia and Dariel Álvarez from Camaguey, as well as pitchers Jorge Martínez and Yoanys Quiala, the latter chosen pitcher of the year 2019 in the strong Pacific League, could adjust to that profile.
In the same way, it would be necessary to study the legal relevance or the possible fulfillment of the requirements established by Cuban baseball, to accommodate players such as Yoanner Negrín, Félix Pérez, Josuán Hernández, Yosmani Guerra, Daniel Carbonell, Ronnier Mustelier, Ángel Rigoberto Cabrera or the veterans Raúl Valdés and Hassan Pena, among many others.
