The Cuban regime blames the administration of President Donald Trump for desertions.
Earlier, the Sports Institute (Inder) had stated that “each abandonment from the ranks of #BeisbolCubano confirms the cynicism with which the Trump administration annulled the agreement between @CubanaBeisbol and @MLB” and added that this “cruel disadvantage prevents the flow natural to the circuits of that organization “.
The Federation pointed out that the recent leaks in Mexico are “concrete expressions” of the cancellation of the agreement and confirmed the abandonment of the team of Diasmany Palacio, Reinaldo Lazaga and Dariel Fernández, who, according to it, “joined those who renounced the commitment contracted” .
Those new casualties are in addition to three previous ones by pitchers Luis Dany Morales and Ubert Luis Mejías and catcher Loidel Rodríguez.
Now the island’s squad – adds a victory and a setback in the tournament – were left with only 18 players with three games to go to finish the qualifying round.
Although in recent years Cuban players have escaped on trips abroad, it is the first massive one in the last two decades.
According to the book “The Dream and the Reality”. Stories of the emigration of Cuban baseball (1960-2018) “, the stampede in Mexican lands constitutes a negative record in the history of the desertion of Cuban baseball players.
The highest number recorded so far dates back to 1996, when 5 players from the Industriales team left the squad at the Champions Clubs tournament, also in Mexico.
In December 2018, the Cuban Baseball Federation and the Major Leagues signed a pact, which would allow the island’s baseball players to play in the MLB without having to leave neither their family nor their country, but the government of Donald Trump blocked it just four months later, and it still remains that way.
After emigrating through different routes, dozens of Cuban players have shone in the Major Leagues for years.
Among the most renowned are Orlando “Duque” Hernández, José Contreras, Kendrys Morales, all already outside the Big Top, and currently others such as José Abreu, Aroldis Chapman, Yulieski Gurriel, José Adolis García and Luis Robert.