By José Alejandro Rodríguez Zas
The young receiver from Spiritus Loidel Rodríguez, was the third player to leave to the Cuban baseball team that participated in the last U23 World Cup held in the state of Sonora, Mexico. Before the debut of the national team against Chinese Taipei, Loidel escaped from the hotel where the team was staying, under the command of Eriel Sánchez, jumping from the second floor, for a palm, as he himself confessed just a few days ago.
After entering the United States earlier this week, the 22-year-old Cuban prospect offered a television interview, exclusively, for AmericaTevé, together with his representative Carlos Pérez, in which he recounted many details of his escape from the Cuban delegation, his arrival in the United States, his future projections and personal opinions on different related topics.
Loidel made it clear, from the beginning of the interview with journalist Juan Manuel Cao, that his decision was motivated by the dream of every player to play in the MLB and that he would try to do his best to achieve it and also confessed:
«I did not want to make the escape in front of my colleagues so as not to disrespect them, that is why I decided to jump from the second floor, for a moral issue, that I was going to leave them and I did not want them to see me leave it there alone. »
The player emphasized that no one contacted him or encouraged him to escape from the team, but that he did so by his own decision and will.
“It was a very own decision. After I was here (in the United States), I contacted agent Carlos Pérez. At no time did he have conversations with me or incite me to anything. That decision was mine to play in the major leagues and try myself at a better baseball. That is why I am here, chasing a dream, “explained the receiver from Spiritus, highlighting the quality of baseball played in the MLB, well above the Cuban National Series.
The athlete’s agent explained how he contacted him and asked him to help him, but without knowing that Loidel was already in the United States.
«I went in like all people do. I turned myself in at the border and I was there for nine days, until I left, Thank God “, clarified the prospectus, who was able to cross the northern limit of the Mexican territory with the American relatively easily and quickly.
Pérez, who also represents other Cuban players such as Lázaro Blanco, Andy Rodríguez and Bryan Chi, confessed, in a first for AmericaTevé, that Loidel has already been accepted into the Miami Dade College to be included in collegiate baseball in the United States.
“The coaches and managers were delighted with the videos that I brought them. He must be there with me on Monday, because he is already going to be part of that school, “said the agent and explained that according to the results Loidel has in terms of his performance, as soon as June of next year he could enter the baseball draft Major League Baseball pro, which is excellent news for the young man.
Asked about the surveillance of the players in the U23 World Cup and other internal issues of the Cuban delegation, such as the fact that his passports are withdrawn, Loidel replied that “the passport thing is true, arriving at the Mexico City airport, They took him away from us, but the surveillance, no, there was no surveillance, there was only the coaching staff and the athletes ».
The player confirmed that he only crossed the border with his Cuban identity card and that he is currently without a passport, at the same time that he specified that they were not allowed to leave the hotel at any time and that they could only move within its limits.
Loidel reiterated that he had thought about his escape since he was in Cuba and that just before the bus left for the field of play, he was the last person to leave the room, but decided to jump from the second floor of the facilities for a palm.
The player also stressed that at no time do the athletes who leave the country intend to ridicule Cuban baseball or anything like that, simply “we are looking for a dream, to play in the Major Leagues, in the best baseball in the world, that is what we are pursuing.” .
To achieve this goal, Loidel left his mother, father, wife, two brothers, his entire family in general, in Cuba, whom he will not be able to see, perhaps, in eight long years, as the laws dictate. current Cuban government, owners of the country and the thinking of its people.
“We all made this decision knowing that, that we would be eight years without going to Cuba to see the family. When we left the team, we were all already thinking about that, “said Loidel, while considering this measure by the Cuban authorities as unfair.
At the end of the dialogue, they questioned the athlete if it seemed correct that the Cuban Baseball Federation maintained its position of charging a percentage of the money for which they hire a Cuban player in the Major Leagues, in case there was an agreement with MLB for this end.
“That does not seem fair to me, because if we made it to the Major Leagues it was due to our own efforts and merits. I don’t know how that works, but it doesn’t seem fair to me, “he concluded.