Andy Rodríguez requested political asylum in the United States and will seek to sign a contract in the Amateur Draft

By José Alejandro Rodríguez Zas

The right-handed pitcher of the Industriales and Cuba teams, the speedy Andy Rodríguez, requested political asylum in the United States, the first step to obtain his permanent residence in that country and then seek a contract in the best baseball in the world, through the Amateur Draft , as reported in the website of Cuban Ball.

“Today a source close to the player confirmed that the 22-year-old player applied for political asylum and told us that he will not travel to a third country to apply for a residence and thus choose to be declared as an International Free Agent,” the note added.

Journalist Francys Romero also echoed the news on his Facebook profile, explaining that Andy could be launching “in the upcoming college season with Miami Dade College.”

“The impossibility of leaving the American territory quickly as well as the exhausted budgets of the MLB teams in the next period of international signatures, has led the Havana right to choose for the Amateur Draft to arrive at professionalism or MLB system”, added Francys in its publication.

This decision of the young Cuban pitcher was confirmed by his own representative, Carlos Pérez, in words to Pelota Cubana, which draws a lot of attention, since it is not the usual procedure followed by most Cuban players who try to play baseball in the United States.

«Many Cuban baseball agents are unaware that the budget for international firms on July 2 is committed until 2023, knowing that the labor agreement will expire in December. On the other hand, if the player is already in the United States and can enter a Junior College, his signing bonus has the possibility of being higher than at the International level. “

“One of the facilities that this decision gives us is not having to leave Miami and that the player can focus more on sports and be close to his family. Not having to leave the country to look for a residence is a step forward. The best thing that can be done now is not to spend work in a third country and if you are already here enter for the Draft ”, explained Pérez.

It is important to remember that Andy broke relations with the Cuban Baseball Federation last June and decided to stay in the United States to seek a future in the Major Leagues, after concluding the pre-Olympic tournament, qualifying for Tokyo 2020.

In addition, by not traveling to Japan, the former pitcher of the Industrial Blues left behind his agreement with the Fukuoka SoftBank team of the professional league of that Asian country, so the American ball is his immediate objective.

In his last National Series played in Cuba, in the 60th edition, Andy Rodriguez He concluded the qualifying stage with an even balance of five victories and the same number of failures, in addition to 12 saves, struck out 50 rival batters, gave 29 walks, his ERA was 2.25 and his WHIP was 1.42