Possible Cuban defections hang over World Baseball

Possible Cuban defections hang over World Baseball
By Enrique Martel | March 5, 2006

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - The possibility of defections hangs
over the World Baseball Classic with Cuba's best players in the U.S.
Caribbean territory of Puerto Rico and the lure of big league baseball's
millions on display.

Major League Baseball, the Cuban federation of baseball and local
promoters of the global tourney are downplaying security precautions
over possible defections from the Olympic champs, stung by high-profile
departures in the past, including those of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez
and Jose Contreras.

But history and the very presence of the Cuban team in Puerto Rico this
week keeps the door open to defections from the communist-ruled island.
The worst mass defection came in 1993 in Puerto Rico, during the Central
American and Caribbean Games, when 39 athletes and trainers jumped ship.

"We will give all the support to anyone (who defects)," said Miguel
Angel Martinez, president of the local chapter of the Cuban American
National Foundation, a leading Cuba exile group. "We will support them
legally and in every facet."

Participation in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which brings
together national squads from 16 leading baseball countries, is a risky
road trip for Cuba, which has suffered a constant drain of sports talent
from defections.

Major League baseball scouts will be watching the Cuban national team
closely, hoping to lure top players with million-dollar contracts.

The Cubans will take to the same field as dozens of Major League
millionaires. Cuban players earn a pittance.

In the past, some of Cuba's best players have joined the hundreds of
Cubans who try to leave the island each year seeking better living
conditions in the United States. Many make the risky journey on boats or
rafts across the 100 miles

of water that separate Cuba from Florida.

That's how "El Duque" Hernandez fled Cuba in 1997 before signing a
multimillion-dollar big-league contract. His brother, Livan Hernandez,
also pitches in the majors.

Cuban exile hard-liners in Miami, opposed to President Fidel Castro,
have urged players to defect during the tourney.

The Cubans and the other three teams in Pool C -- Panama, Netherlands
and Puerto Rico -- are staying at the El San Juan Hotel. The Cubans are
in a separate area of the hotel, but Dan Mullin, senior security manager
for Major League Baseball, said that's just how it worked out.

"The Cubans have been very good to work with," said Mullin. "They
haven't asked for anything special."

The president of the Cuban baseball federation, Carlos Rodriguez, said
there was no need for extraordinary security measures. "It's just like
any other event," he said. "There is no need" for special arrangements.

Mullin said security checks, such as reviewing travel routes, FBI
briefings and bomb sweeps, were routine for an event of this size.

Cuba plays its first game on Wednesday against Panama and as one of the
tournament favorites is expected to make it to the second round. That
would keep Cuban players on the island until March 15.

Martinez said he can't predict whether there will be defections. "We
won't know until they do it," he said. "You know, they are surrounded by
security and they have families in Cuba. Taking that step is not easy."

The Cuban national baseball team lost its best pitcher, Contreras, in
2002 during a tournament in Mexico. He was signed by the New York
Yankees to a $32 million contract.

In June 2004, first baseman Kendry Morales fled Cuba in a motorboat and
now plays for the Los Angeles Angels. Seattle Mariners shortstop
Yunieski Betancourt also left Cuba by sea in 2004.

(Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle in Havana)

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