By José Manzaneda on April 24, 2023
Yariel Rodriguez with the Chunchi Dragons, photo: Cubainformacion
Cuban baseball player Yariel Rodriguez played in Japan’s professional league, with a millionaire contract, of which he received most of it and a small percentage was destined to the Cuban Baseball Federation, for grassroots sports on the island. The player then received an important offer from a Major League Baseball team in the United States. It would give Rodriguez access to the best baseball in the world and, of course, to an even larger millionaire contract. This could also bring much more money for grassroots sports or the improvement of facilities in Cuba.
Ah… but Sorry, not so fast. They tell me that this is not so simple. Because in the U.S. it is illegal for a Cuban baseball player to spend even one tax dollar in Cuba and that, in order to be signed in the Major Leagues (MLB), he must not only break all relations with the Baseball Federation of his country, but he must even renounce his Cuban citizenship, even if it is temporarily. This is full-fledged political blackmail and a violation of the player’s liberties that is granted to every player who comes from any other country. Curiously- in the international sports press there is absolute silence on this matter.
So for Yariel Rodriguez, to gain access to his long-awaited contract in MLB, he has abandoned, without warning, his Japanese team, the Chunichi Dragons, in breach of the valid contract he signed.
Now, do we read headlines that say that Yariel Rodriguez has “escaped” or “fled” from Japan? No! It would be a bit strange, because who flees from a country like Japan?
However, let’s present a second case, quite similar to the previous one: that of the baseball player, also Cuban, Iván Prieto. He decided to break, in the same way, with the Cuban Baseball Federation, and for the same reasons: to access an agent certified by the U.S. professional league. However, in this case, as the baseball player did not leave Japan for the USA, but from Cuba to the USA, the headlines do talk incessantly about “escape”, “desertion”, “flight” and “escape”. Curious, isn’t it?
These are terms that reflect the unhealthy politicization against anything and everything coming from Cuba -in this case, its sports system-. It is a politicization that the Miami media channels take to the extreme of the ridiculous. Ivan Prieto, the alleged “fled” player, explained the reasons for staying in the U.S. by saying, “I made the decision for completely on the issue of sports and for nothing else, and that’s why I stayed away from social networks.” “My decision was made based on the opportunity I was presentd to advance in my field, because I want to improve myself, I want to prove myself in a baseball league of a higher level of competition.” But because these statements did not give enough political ammunition against Cuba, the Telemundo channel journalist dismissed his interview by resorting… to the supreme: “In all interviews, both in Cuba and here in the US, (Ivan) Prieto has always thanked God and not the Cuban Revolution, like other ballplayers in the past. Eduardo Yusnaby Rodríguez, Telemundo 51”.
The fact is that in Miami they do not ever relax their hatred of Cuba… not even in baseball!
Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English