CUBAN CONNECTIONS
NEWS ITEM—The Boston Red Sox recently awarded
teen-aged Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada a record $31.5million signing bonus.
Reportedly, the total cost was $63 million, as there is a Major League Baseball
tax of 100% for excessive spending on international free agents.
Sixty-three
million dollars to sign an unproven Cuban 19-year-old. Aye carumba!
According
to Prensa Libre/Associated Press, BoSox legend Luis Tiant, also a Cuban, played
a role in wooing Yoan.
“Big kid, very
strong,” Tiant said. “I think he’s a third baseman. We talked a little and I
told him to work hard.”
So El Tiant
“thinks” Yoan is a third baseman. Hmmmm. How much are we paying El Tiant for
his help?
I ask that
because to help secure the deal, the Red Sox also signed Carlos Mesa, a
27-year-old third baseman and FOY—Friend of Yoan. A Moncada mentor, Mesa was
released by the Pirates organization in 2013 and played independent ball last
season. So the cost of bringing Moncada to Boston is higher than we realize.
But didn’t BoSox General Manager Ben Cherrington already spend almost $100
million to sign Pablo Sandoval to play third base? Double “Aye carumba!!”
The good
news is that the BoSox outbid the Yankees for Yoan. Or IS that good news? I
wonder. How much money do the Sox have to throw around? We’re talking about a
team that’s finished in last place two out of the past three seasons.
The Red
Sox earlier paid $72 million dollars to sign Cuban defector Rusney
Castillo. But Yoan
was NOT a defector. Moncada was given a passport and visa and
allowed to leave by the Cuban government. So obviously the teen sensation’s status was blessed by the Castro
brothers, Fidel and Raoul—Cuba’s Communist dictators.
So I ask, is
any of Moncada’s money going to go back to the Cuban government, i.e. the
Castros? A lot of people probably don’t care, just so long as Moncada can play.
But I care. I’m not sure that I want to pay big bucks at Fenway Park, knowing
that some of it will support Communist dictators. Call me old-fashioned, but
that’s how I feel.
Consider what
happened to Miami Marlin manager Ozzie Guillen in 2012. For some reason,
Guillen felt a need to declare that he was a fan of Fidel, the elder of the
Castro tyrants, who is supposedly a “retired” dictator. As south Florida is
largely populated by anti-Communist Cuban refugees, Guillen’s statements were
an epic example of insensitive stupidity. The Marlins actually suspended
Guillen for his comments, and the team never recovered.
In the musical
comedy DAMN YANKEES, Joe Boyd sold his soul to the Devil so that his Washington
Senators could beat out the New York Yankees. It didn’t turn out well. I hope
I’m overthinking re: Boston baseball money going to the Communist government in
Cuba. I don’t think it would turn out well.
FIDEL’S FASTBALL—NOT!
Speaking of
Fidel Castro and Washington, I recalled an internet story about Fidel once
having a Major League try-out with the Senators back in the 50’s. I looked into
this and discovered the story to be a myth. Fidel wasn’t that good. It never
happened. As Abraham Lincoln reportedly said, “Don’t believe all the quotes you
read on the internet.”
BLEACHER SEATS AT FENWAY
The first time
I went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, in 1972, I paid $2 to sit in the
centerfield bleachers. Years later, with the advent of free agency, the Red Sox
raised the bleacher price to $3. I recall the outrage of many fans.
“Are the Red
Sox crazy? Do they really expect us to pay THREE DOLLARS to go to a game?”
Yet pay we did.
(But presumably none of those dollars went to Castro’s Communist Cuban
government.)
