Talented Cuban baseball prospect leaves the country at just 14 years old

The talented Cuban baseball playerChristian Saez Ribalta, a native of Cienfuegos and only 14 years old, left Cuba this Tuesday with the intention of continuing his career in professional baseball. The young prospect will look to sign with a Major League organization in about two years.

The news was announced in theweb of the sports journalist Francys Romero, who did not hesitate to describe it as“one of the most valued talents of his entire class in the world”, a criterion ratified by somescouts, according to the source.

The young man from Cienfuegos, who counts among his virtues being ambidextrous, was part asfirst baseman of the “All Stars” team at the U-12 World Cup, held in Taiwan in 2019, a competition in which Team Cuba obtained the bronze medal.

During that tournament, Sáez hit four home runs and 12 hits, for an average of .522. He was second in RBIs in the event, with 14, only behind Taiwanese Huang Tien-Szu.

Christian Sáez will have to first establish his residence andwait until you turn 16 to sign with a Major League organization(MLB, for its acronym in English).

“Right now he will be one of the main objectives of the departments of international firms in Quisqueya”, Dominican Republic, said Romero, who concluded that the young man“projects to be a multimillion-dollar firm that will put him among the best talents in his class.”

The departure of Sáez Ribalta from Cuba represents another significant loss in the field of Cuban baseball, which has suffered an increasing number of casualties in the last year.

Unstoppable exodus in Cuban baseball

At the beginning of December,the young Cuban baseball player Rafael Álvarez, a native of Granma and just 16 years old, left Cuba for the Dominican Republic, also with the intention of signing with a Major League organization.

Escapes have also increased in the lower categories. In October the Industriales team player,Cristian De Jesús López Cala, 19, also left Cuba to the Dominican Republic. The young man was in the preselection of 27 under-23 players who trained at the Latin American Stadium to participate in the Junior Pan American Championship in Colombia.

López Cala was the fifth prospect to emigrate from the list of the Best 25 U-18 players of 2020, according to data from Francys Romero. Previously, Reimi García (#8), Leandro Hernández (#13), Ruben Menes (#20) and Luis Danys Morales (#2) had left.

A month later, in mid-November, it emerged thatDarlin Jiménez and Gustavo Urgellés, both 21 years old, also left with interest in continuing his career in the Major Leagues.

In the case of Jiménez, a native of Granma, he was discharged by the sports authorities of his province after announcing that he would not participate in the national pre-selection for the Junior Pan American Games in protest for not having been included in the team that attended the Sub-World Cup. 23 in Mexico.

Francys Romero has been reiterating in recent months that "2021 will be remembered as the year of 'abandonments'."It must be taken into account that 15 players escaped from the first team alone. There were three escapes at the Americas Pre-Olympic, held in May in Florida, and others12 players escaped during the U-23 World Cup, in Mexico.