BASEBALL NOTES

Orlando Hernandez, the pitcher who left Cuba on a raft in late December, will showcase his talent at the Caribbean Series in hopes of landing a free-agent contract with a major league team.

In a speech Saturday, Cuban President Fidel Castro referred to the pitcher, without naming him, as a “mercenary of sports” who had “betrayed his country.”

He complained about press reports repeatedly saying that Hernandez made the equivalent of about $8 per month in Cuba.

“They made him a hero,” Castro said.

The Cuban pitcher will attend the Caribbean Series as a spectator, but he plans to throw a few balls around and meet with U.S. major league executives.

“We want the Caribbean Series to be Hernandez’s showcase for the world. The baseball executives will be there,” said Joe Cubas, agent for the player known in Cuba as “El Duque.”

The Caribbean Series, which includes champion teams from Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, will be played in Venezuela at the end of January.

Hernandez, the half-brother of Florida Marlin pitcher Livan Hernandez, the most valuable player in last year’s World Series, rejected an offer of a U.S. visa that would have made him subject to baseball’s amateur draft.

He arrived in Costa Rica on Wednesday after having spent the previous week in the Bahamas, where he was taken by a U.S. Coast Guard vessel after fleeing Cuba.

Cubas said Hernandez expects to receive residency status in Costa Rica on Monday and soon thereafter become a free agent.

Cubas said several teams had expressed interest in Hernandez, including the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. He downplayed reports that Hernandez may be too old to pitch in the major leagues. Hernandez lists his age as 28, but some reports say he is 32.

“Once he shows that he can pitch, everyone will forget about the age factor,” Cubas said. “There is no doubt he can play in the majors.”

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Former Kansas City Royal relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry was released from a Kansas City, Mo., hospital after surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Surgeons removed between 80% and 90% of the walnut-sized tumor from the right side of Quisenberry’s brain.

Results of pathology tests to determine whether the tumor is malignant should be available early this week, a hospital spokesman said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.