Cuban Players Wait and See---NY Times

"The sports agent Gus Dominguez, who has represented 38 Cuban defectors, sees a better day coming for baseball players on the island now that an ailing Fidel Castro has ceded power to his brother Raúl after more than four and a half decades of restrictive rule. It just may not come as soon as some believe.

“I think until you hear exactly what happened to Castro himself, you don’t know what’s going to take place,” Dominguez said Tuesday in a telephone interview from California, acknowledging that few details of Fidel Castro’s health after intestinal surgery were known.

“Some people are saying this could be a dress rehearsal for when it really happens, to see what the reaction is,” said Dominguez, looking ahead to when Castro steps down permanently. “So guarded optimism is what I have.”

That Cuba still has a wealth of professional baseball prospects is unchallenged. The Cubans exhibited plenty of talent in finishing second in the inaugural World Baseball Classic this spring, and Dominguez said other skilled players surfaced on the team’s trips to Colombia and the Netherlands. He estimated that Cuba had more than 200 players capable of playing professionally.

Another agent accustomed to dealing with Cuban players, Jaime Torres of Miami —whose clients included José Contreras of the Chicago White Sox — agreed that the Cuban talent pool was exceptionally deep. Torres spoke Tuesday from the Dominican Republic, where he is auditioning five Cuban defectors for pro scouts.

Cuba’s Communist government released a statement Tuesday evening suggesting that Castro, who will be 80 on Aug. 13, had survived intestinal surgery and was in stable condition. Castro had only temporarily relinquished power to his brother because of the surgery.

But Dominguez said he felt strongly that players on the island one day would not have to risk their lives on a rickety boat or other backdoor methods to have a chance to play professionally in America.

“It may take a month or two for the Cuban people to realize that Raúl doesn’t have the power that Fidel does,” Dominguez said. “I don’t think the people of Cuba will rally behind Raúl. If Fidel is gone, then I think communism in Cuba, as we know it, is gone.”

As many of Miami’s Cubans danced in the streets over the prospect of Castro’s demise, the Mets’ two players of Cuban descent — pitcher Orlando Hernández and the utilityman Eli Marrero — were far more cautious. Hernández did not want to talk about the issue.

“I stay away from politics,” he said. “I’m here to play baseball.”

When a reporter from a Spanish-language newspaper tried to explain Hernández’s atypical abruptness on this issue, Hernández waved him off, saying, “Don’t say anything more.”

Marrero also brushed off several attempts by the news media to discuss the subject but later said he did not want to get caught up in all the celebrating when nothing about Castro was certain.

“You don’t know if he’s going to die or if he’s just resting somewhere,” said Marrero, who left Cuba 26 years ago when he was 6. “Until it’s official news, I can’t really jump to any conclusions.”

The two Marlins of Cuban descent — the Hall of Famer Tony Pérez, a guest coach, and the longtime major leaguer Cookie Rojas, who works on the team’s Spanish broadcasts — had similar thoughts as Marrero.

Rojas said he did not want to talk about anything political but said: “There’s a lot of talent there. But it’s been there for 40 years. How come they haven’t done anything about it before this?”

Pérez said people could be premature in their exuberance.

“People have the right to celebrate,” he said. “But celebrate for what? There’s nothing for sure yet.”" by Charlie Nobles, NY Times, August 1, 2006

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