Cuban Defector Dreams of Majors

The Cuban national baseball team’s starting pitcher who defected will seek residency in the Dominican Republic so he can become a free agent and play in the major leagues, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

Rolando Arrojo’s defection Tuesday came only nine days after Cuban boxers Joel Casamayor and Ramon Garbey defected in Mexico.

Arrojo, 28, left his hotel room in Albany, Ga., where the Cuban team was preparing for the Olympics, the newspaper reported.

“It was a very hard decision, but I had to make it to achieve my dream of gaining freedom and playing in the major leagues,” Arrojo told the Herald in a telephone interview.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell my teammates, but it was a very personal decision and I had to make it all by myself,” he said.

Arrojo left behind his wife and two sons, ages 9 and 1.

The player immediately signed with agent and promoter Joe Cubas, who previously secured major league contracts for two of Arrojo’s former Cuban teammates.

Livan Hernandez signed for $4.5 million with the Florida Marlins and Osvaldo Fernandez was paid $3.9 million for joining the San Francisco Giants.

Cubas said he would begin proceedings to enable Arrojo to become a legal resident of the Dominican Republic, like Fernandez and Hernandez.

Arrojo was named the No. 1 pitcher for the Cuban national team after the defections of Hernandez and Fernandez. He pitched in the 1992 Olympics and has a 10-0 record in international meets during the last two years.

On Tuesday evening, the head of the Cuban Olympic delegation, Evaristo Ruiz, told Miami television station WLTV that Arrojo disappeared before practice Tuesday morning.

“I don’t want to talk politics, but this is not disappointing to the other players,” Ruiz said. “They are still determined to bring the gold medal back to Cuba.”

But Cuba’s spokesman in Washington criticized Arrojo, saying he was motivated by money and not politics.

“If the major leagues didn’t pay money, he wouldn’t want to play in the major leagues,” said Jose Ponce from the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. “He wants to make several millions.”

Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday denounced Cuban athletes who have deserted their teams as “traitors” and urged the rest of the Olympic squad to remain true to the country.

The Prensa Latina news agency, monitored in Mexico, said Castro called the deserters mercenaries, willing to sell out to “those who want to defeat us by spending millions.”