MLB.com is now confirming a story first reported by ESPN, that two Cuban players considered close to being big league ready have defected from Cuba.
Reportedly, right-hander Yadel Marti, Cuba’s top pitcher in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, and outfielder Yasser Gomez defected for the Dominican Republic.
Both players are expected to immediately pursue MLB careers, and each will be highly sought after.
The following is a short bio on each player as provided by ESPN.
Marti, 29, was the best of Cuba’s pitchers in the 2006 WBC. The right-hander went 1-0 with two saves and led the tournament in ERA (0.00) after not allowing a single run in 12 2/3 innings. He was elected to the WBC All Star team.
Marti won 67 games with a 3.23 ERA in his career with Industriales but participated in a limited capacity last season (4-2, 3.12 ERA in 15 games).
Gomez, 28, is a fast outfielder who was Rookie of the Year in 1997 and hit .394 with 51 runs scored and 41 RBIs in 66 games in the most recent National Series tournament. He has a .331 career average with Industriales.
They both sound very appealing just going by those brief bios. The Cuban national team has always featured some of the best players and athletes in the world. We are not talking about a couple of former beer leaguers here.
It’s too bad we still didn’t have El Duque so that he might help the Mets to recruit each of them. It’s the least he could do for us…
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good for them…im not familiar with gomez but i am with marti…i saw the world baseball classic games and i saw marti pitch against the powerful dominican lineup and the guy just shut them down like they were nothing….he has good stuff and is a great control pitcher….its a shame cuba’s best player (yulieski gourriel) hasnt defected yet…he sure could help the mets with that second base trouble and right handed pop they have been looking for..
I’m not familiar with either of these players, but the thing that struck me as odd is that Gomez is listed as 28 and was ROY in 97, when he would have been 17. Is there any fudging going on with their ages?
Remember when Alay Soler was supposed to be a Cuban Coup for us? An ace in the making who defied all odds to come over from Cuba to play in MLB? And somehow, the Mets lucked out and signed him?
Yeah, whatever happened to that fat, underperforming slob anyway?
Josh, i think he retired. i heard he played for the Long Island Ducks or something like that before he retired. we should of used him in a big trade.