By Álex Fernández Fernández
Everything that concerns the formation of the Cuban national team carries a cultural dose of controversy. Every Cuban is a manager who judges any kind of decision. However, there is no doubt that many of the followers have a broad mastery of the subject.
The preliminar roster of half a hundred was highly questioned precisely because of the choices. Excluded names such as Yasmany Tomás, who is “tearing it up” with the Cañeros de Los Mochis in Mexico, or Yordanis Samón, the most notable hitter in recent years with Cuba, still resound as discomfort in the fans.
That is why the doubts of Armando Johnson in a recent interview with the newspaper Tribuna de La Habana, are hard to stomach. Although he blames most of them even to bureaucratic obstacles. And thus one can read:
“We still do not have all the weapons in hand, we are waiting for the team to be finalized to be able to define the starting pitchers, the long, intermediate and short relievers, and that is why we still cannot say exactly. If this union is achieved, things can be done because Major League athletes have a lot of expertise,” he said.
What once seemed a utopia, in that of summoning MLB players (remember that the Cuban Baseball Federation always said it was impossible to summon them due to MLB contractual prohibitions for the World Classic), now seems to be the salvation plank.
The former skipper of the Isla de la Juventud teams , in National Series, said that there is still no certainty that all MLBers summoned by the FCB will be on the team, because “there may still be changes on the part of the MLB which is the one that makes decisions over those athletes, and we are waiting to see how bring that into fruition.”
Too many hesitations and insecurities for a team that really came out reinforced for this tournament if we take into account the material that has been available for international events over the past five years.
And if we look again at the athletes who are contracted outside the auspices of the Cuban Federation itself, the doubts continue.
“Regarding Yoennis Cespedes’ injury he said that they do not know at what point he is, but he is confident in his recovery, and added that for the moment if it is necessary to replace a member of the team for any of these mishaps, another of the roster of 50 would take his place, instead of summoning another player.”
So it can be read in the newspaper.
Cuba, which will announce its team on January 24, continues to navigate in a sea of questions, although it has already been announced that they will be on a tour of Asia, and that the athletes of the Caribbean Series will not be at the World Classic.
We will have to wait for the rest, although it seems that we will not know until the last minute what Cuba will have for the first game against the Netherlands, an opponent that has beaten them on more than one occasion in the World Classic.
