$30 Million for Cuba’s José Soler
HAVANA TIMES — Over a 110 million US dollars has been dished out by MLB teams in recent times to land four Cuban players. The latest in the money fest is Jose Soler, 20, who was signed last week to play nine years for the Chicago Cubs for $30 million.
Soler joins Yoennis Cespedes (36 million with Oakland), Aroldis Chapman (30 million for Cincinnati) and Leonys Martin (15 million for Texas), with top contracts.
Other big figure players include Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo, both everyday players with the Chicago White Sox.
Soler, relatively unknown on the island, batted .304 for the Cuban squad at the world junior’s tournament held in Canada in 2010.
The speedy prospect was caught twice attempting to leave Cuba before finally achieving his goal on a third try, allowing him to reach the Dominican Republic in 2011, noted the DPA news agency.
Imagine if only 5% of that $110 million were allowed to come back to Cuba. That would be $5.5million. Dominican ballplayers build schools and hospitals in the Dominican Republic. Entire Dominican towns now have paved streets because of the gratitude of their wealthy native sons who play in the big leagues. Solely the debilitating Castro pride and arrogance prevents Cuba from receiving the same benefits.Silvio Rodriguez, the famous troubador, using the wealth he has earned throughout Europe and Latin America built one of Latin Americas finest recording studios in Miramar. Latin musicians from all over Latin America travel to Cuba to record at this studio. Silvio’s wealth is a drop in the bucket in comparison to the wealth acquired by Cuban ballplayers in the United States. Just imagine how much more they could be doing for their country of birth if permitted to return to Cuba during their off-seasons and after their sports career is over.