Top Cuban baseball player defects

MIAMI — Cuban baseball’s brightest star, Dayan Viciedo, has escaped from Cuba and is now in Miami, following the footsteps of talented island colleagues who have found their way into the major leagues.

Viciedo, a 19-year-old third baseman, is considered as big a star in Cuba as Omar Linares, the most well-rounded player to emerge from the Cuban leagues since 1959 and a player highly coveted by major league scouts during the 1980s.

“At first I didn’t like to be compared to Linares because he is almost a legend,” Viciedo said. “Later, I felt proud. As a third baseman I have two idols: Linares from the Cuban National Series and Alex Rodriguez from the major leagues.”

Viciedo left Cuba on a boat bound for Mexico on May 20, accompanied by his family. Several days later he crossed the border from Mexico and traveled to Miami to reunite with friends and relatives.

“Most Cuban ball players dream of playing in the major leagues,” he said. “This is an aspiration that comes with risks, but I was willing to take them in order to try out. Inside, you have the desire to know if you have a place among the best in the world, if you belong to the elite.”

According to a person within the Cuban Baseball Federation, the authorities there already knew of Viciedo’s escape to Mexico. His name was not included in the list of 43 players chosen to represent Cuba at the Beijing Olympics this summer.

Born March 10, 1989, in the town of Remedios, in the central Cuba province of Villa Clara, Viciedo is regarded as the best Cuban baseball player in the past eight years after Kendry Morales, who defected in 2004 and now plays in the Los Angeles Angels’ system.

“Dayan is going to spark a lot of talk in the majors,” said his agent, Puerto Rican lawyer Jaime Torres.

“He has arrived with youth, he is very versatile and his conditioning is exceptional. We will soon see him wearing the uniform of a major league team.”

Torres added that Viciedo reminds him of Boston Red Sox star Manny Ramirez.

Standing 6-2 and weighing 202 pounds, Viciedo is known as a powerful batter and a versatile defender, capable of playing shortstop, third base and outfield, and he even can pitch. His fastball has been clocked at more than 90 mph, but he said his pitching days are over.

Since age 9, he has played for Cuban national teams in all categories, and at 15 he started playing in the Cuban national championship. He is the first Cuban to play for three national teams at the same time — 15-16 year-olds, juveniles and majors.

In January 2006 he became the youngest player to participate in the All-Stars game and was selected that same year for the World Baseball Classic held in the United States.

“He is a young man with tremendous talent, but had lately become unmotivated and made little effort,” said the Cuban Baseball Federation person in Cuba, who asked for anonymity to avoid government reprisals.

Viciedo said that during the last year his mind has been on his plans to defect from Cuba.

“There is still very good baseball in Cuba, and there are several youths with promise and a lot of talent that are moving up,” he said. “But in general the level has dropped ... the decline has been abysmal.”