CUBA NEWS
Januray 21, 2003

CUBA NEWS
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Contreras Says Family Can't Leave Cuba

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, 19 - New York Yankee pitcher Jose Contreras says his family was barred from leaving Cuba, the newspaper La Prensa reported Monday.

Contreras told the newspaper that Cuban officials had twice refused permission for his wife Miriam Murillo to go to Nicaragua and that she would have to wait four years before applying again.

He told La Prensa that Nicaragua had given a visa to his wife and daughters Naylan, 11, and Naylenis, 3, but that it had expired.

Contreras was a star with the Cuban national baseball team before defecting and signing with the Yankees in December 2002.

He has legal residence in Nicaragua, though he also has a house in Tampa, Florida. He spoke to the newspaper at a hotel in Managua.

"While they call me a traitor, I don't feel that I'm a traitor," Contreras told La Prensa. "I have not committed any offense, any crime. I took the decision to leave the island. It was a personal decision, and my daughters and my wife should not have to pay any price. They aren't guilty of anything, even if any guilt exists."

"For eight years, I gave my best for my country and now they treat me this way. I'm not a politician. I'm a sportsman, and if my country had treated me better, I would not be here, I'd be in Cuba."

Scouts to look at Cuban

By Rod Beaton, USA TODAY. Jan 20.

Cuban right-hander Maels Rodriguez, who defected in October and was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball on Jan. 7, is working out Thursday for big-league scouts to generate what he hopes will be a bidding war for his services.

The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Anaheim Angel Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers are among the teams expected to attend the workout in San Salvador that will include lightly regarded utility player Yobal Duenas, 31, who defected with Rodriguez.

"When I see certain (big-spending) teams are going, I figure, 'What's the point?' " Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan says of making a bid for Rodriguez.

Ryan is saving money to sign players in the June draft, where the Twins have seven of the first 100 picks: "We can sign them with more certainty (than Cubans)."

Top Cuban pitchers have a spotty record in the majors. Osvaldo Fernandez (San Francisco Giants), Rene Arocha (St. Louis Cardinals) Ariel Prieto (Oakland Athletics), Rolando Arrojo (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) and Adrian Hernandez (Yankees) have been expensive failures. Every team hopes to find and sign standouts such as Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, Livan Hernandez and last year's plum, Jose Contreras.

The Yankees signed Contreras, 32, for four years and $32 million. Rodriguez is 24, his age verified by Olympic records. He is looking to sign for terms comparable to those Contreras received, a long shot given some of the questions surrounding him.

Rodriguez must overcome a bias against hard-throwing right-handers who are under 6 feet tall, their durability considered suspect. Rodriguez is 5-11 and 176 pounds. He threw 255 innings, a Cuban record, in 2002.

His high points include a perfect game and setting the Cuban record for strikeouts, 263 in 178&frac_one_third; innings in 2000. Last season he was 8-3 with a 3.11 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 113 innings.

In his last season in Cuba, officials left him off two touring teams because of arm problems. Rodriguez also had a herniated disk a year ago and was unable to throw mid-90s routinely - and 100 mph on occasion as he did during the 2000 Olympics.

This workout is designed to dispel those concerns.

When he's healthy, he compares to major league reliever Danys Baez, now with Tampa Bay, says Peter Bjarkman, author of Smoke: The Romance and Lore of Cuban Baseball.

Bjarkman and observers of Cuban baseball say Rodriguez can be a big-league closer if his arm is healthy, a washout if not.

"If I was a team with a lot of money, I'd take a chance with Maels," said Milton Jamail, author of Full Count: Inside Cuban Baseball. "If I was in a middle market, I wouldn't consider it."


 


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