2017 World Baseball Classic Spotlight: Defections Put Cuba In Tough Spot

It wasn’t long ago that scouts would follow the Cuban national team anywhere the club traveled.

Whether it was the World Baseball Classic in Japan or a small tournament in Nicaragua, watching the Cuban national team at the limited opportunities scouts had to see those players in person was a high priority. The Cuban national team dominated international tournaments, and if any of those players ever left the country to try to sign with a major league team, clubs had to make sure they were prepared with as much history on those players as they could get.

That’s no longer the case. Cuba’s national team and the country’s top league, Serie Nacional, have been decimated by players fleeing the country to pursue major league deals. Even after a wave of players had already left for the major leagues, Cuba’s 2013 WBC team still had Jose Abreu, Yulieski Gurriel, Raisel Iglesias, Yasmany Tomas and Guillermo Heredia.

This year’s team? There’s outfielder Alfredo Despaigne, a 30-year-old slugger who is Cuba’s best player. In center field is Victor Mesa, a 20-year-old speedster who is the country’s best prospect.

Beyond Despaigne and Mesa, the Cuban national team is filled with veteran players of little interest to MLB clubs, largely the equivalent of minor league roster fillers. Cuba used to go to international tournaments expecting nothing short of a gold medal. At the WBC, getting out of the first round isn’t a guarantee.

“If you put all the guys who have defected and put them on Cuba, you would have a hell of a team,” one international scouting director said. “But those guys—Abreu, (Yoenis) Cespedes, (Yasiel) Puig—those guys are not on the team. Now the younger guys aren’t getting to that team either because they’ve defected. Really, you can’t expect them to have a strong team when even the depth talent has defected. As organized as baseball development is in Cuba, they just can’t keep up with that number of players leaving. ”

Therein lies one of the problems for the future of the Cuban national team. It’s one thing to withstand the loss of star players like Abreu, Cespedes or Aroldis Chapman. But now it’s not just players in their mid-20s leaving—it’s the younger generation fleeing the country. Yoan Moncada (Red Sox), Lourdes Gurriel (Blue Jays), Norge Ruiz (Athletics), Andy Ibanez (Rangers), Vladimir Gutierrez (Reds) and the majority of Cuba’s top talent that could have taken prominent roles on the national team are with major league organizations instead.

In the 2021 WBC, things could change. Officials from MLB and the Cuban baseball federation have discussed the possibility of having Cuba field a team that includes major leaguers. That would mark a dramatic shift, one that would give Cuba a legitimate chance to win a title.

Right now, the focus for scouts has shifted to following Cuba’s 18U and 15U teams at international tournaments. The last one was in August in Japan, where Cuba captured the gold medal at the 15U World Cup. Seven months later, half of its 20-man roster from that tournament has already left Cuba.

It’s a signal that Cuba will continue to produce some of the top young baseball players in the world. But the days of the Cuban national team being appointment viewing for scouts are over.