Every few years, Yuli Gurriel and Aledmys Díaz feel the same longing.
Houston Astros infielders defected from Cuba, abandoning teams representing the island traveling abroad so they could pursue their dream of playing baseball at the highest level. Both have played multiple times in the World Series, earned millions in the United States, and received awards for individual achievements.
But every time there’s a World Baseball Classic — the international tournament attended by many of the world’s top players — Gurriel and Díaz could only watch as their teammates left spring training to move to their home countries’ uniforms. Cuban players like her are left behind. With another edition of the international tournament scheduled for next spring, Gurriel and Díaz worry that this situation could happen again.
“It’s sad,” Díaz, 31, said recently in Spanish. Gurriel, 38, added: “It makes us a little jealous not to be there and not being able to do the same.”
The reason for their exclusion: The Cuban Baseball Federation does not allow players who defected from the communist country to represent it in international competition. The list of banned players has grown significantly since the inaugural WBC in 2006 as many of Cuba’s best talent left the island.
Expatriate Cubans in the majors could make one of the best teams in the world. The lineup could have stars like Astros designated hitter Yordan Álvarez, Chicago White Sox first baseman José Abreu and Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena. The pitching staff could include notables like the Yankees’ Nestor Cortes and Aroldis Chapman. And if Cuban Americans were eligible, the team could include Boston Red Sox hitter JD Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah.
Fidel Castro, who was President of Cuba from 1976 to 2008, was known for his love of baseball. Gurriel represented Cuba internationally until he defected in 2016 ) )
Aroldis Chapman was a breakout star at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He has lamented the current state of Cuban baseball. Credit… Andrew Gombert/European Pressphoto Agency
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This year, current and former Cuban players, businessmen and lawyers formed a group to seek a solution. The goal of the Association of Cuban Professional Baseball Players is to create the best team of professional Cuban talent from around the world to compete at the WBC
to participate. “We want all players who want to represent their country,” Díaz said. “Cuba is for everyone. It’s not just for those who are pro-government or anti-government.”
The federation has grown to 170 members spanning the major and minor leagues and other foreign professional leagues such as those in Mexico, Japan and Taiwan. It has a logo and jerseys — in the colors of the Cuban flag but no flag — and chose a name: Cubans or Cubanos, an ode to the Havana Sugar Kings, the Cuba-based minor league team that competes in Class AAA played from 1954 to 1960.
Despite those efforts, the federation and players argue they don’t want to replace the Cuban federation, which the Trump administration said was part of the government in Havana when it scuttled a deal between MLB and the federation in 2019 that paved the way for players would have made it easier to compete in the United States without defecting. The federation is aiming for a national team that is independent of the Cuban federation – but with open doors for players on the island.
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“Relax, okay? Don’t try to beat everyone. Deletion is boring! Also, they are fascist. Throw some groundballs, it’s more democratic.”
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“We represent the Cubans around the world who want to see that and want to see a team made up of all the professional players,” Los Angeles Angels closer Raisel Iglesias, 32, who has led the charge among active Cuban players, addressed to her and Shared updates via WhatsApp. He later added: “And if it is possible to invite the players who are under the Cuban federation.”
. The club, which calls its proposed team Cubanos, has a unified concept designed by Carlos Rojas. Credit… James Wagner/The New York Times; Carlos Rojas
However, Iglesias said that having such an offer would be “really difficult.” Although the World Baseball Classic is operated as a joint venture between MLB and the MLB players’ union, the event is sponsored by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the global Sport’s governing body, sanctioned. And there is a system that prevents external groups from forming teams.
“If they want to be part of an event sanctioned by the WBSC, they have to respect the rules, which say that the national federations make up the national teams,” said Riccardo Fraccari, the confederation’s president, in a telephone interview from Switzerland, where it is based Has.
Fraccari alluded to a WBSC statute which states that only recognized members can select their national team and have “the exclusive right to represent the name, flag and colors of the country or territory”. He continued, “If not, they can have another tournament, which would be up to them and wherever they want, but not a World Governing Body sanctioned event.”
(Fraccari pointed out that there are Cubans who play abroad, such as in Japan, who are allowed to return but are on loan from the Cubans
Despite not responding to messages requesting comment, the Cuban FA took action against the nascent Cuban FA in April. In an official statement, the federation called the federation’s goals “political, not sporting,” and said the group is pushing MLB and the players’ union to “seize the place that rightfully belongs to the Cuban national team in the next WBC.”
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Last week, association officials, including former league player Yonder Alonso, met with commissioner Rob Manfred and others at MLB headquarters in Manhattan. Credit… mario fernandez
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Mario Fernández, the association’s president, said the group is ready to sit down and talk to the Cuban federation – but under certain conditions. First, he said the federation deserves a public apology to the players who he believes have been “insulted and abused”.
“We’re not going to sit down to talk to them if that doesn’t happen,” said Fernandez, a businessman who left Cuba at 28, founded a semi-professional league in Chile and now lives in the United States. “If they’ve apologized and it doesn’t happen again, that’s a very good start. But we see that it would be very difficult because of the politics involved.”
Once a world powerhouse, the Cuban national team has come through tough times. It failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, and while it has appeared in all five editions of the World Baseball Classic, it has struggled for the most part, finishing second in 2006 and finishing outside the top 4 at every edition since.
“Baseball in Cuba is bad,” said Chapman, 34, who played for the Cuban national team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. “A lot has fallen. The majority is gone and here.”
