There are 10 Cuban baseball players who decline to join the team for the Classic

Gardener Víctor Labrada and infielder Ernesto Martínez increased to ten the number of Major League Baseball players who will be absent from the Cuban team that will participate in the VI World Baseball Classic, which will be played from March 5 to March 17, 2026. Your decisions not to integrate the Cuban cast are the most recent ones made public by independent media and journalists. Labrada, who plays for the Seattle Mariners, decided to prioritize the spring training known as Spring Training, to which he was invited by his organization, over the possibility of representing Cuba in the international baseball tournament, reported the media Pelota Cubana USA on its Facebook page. The sports outlet also confirmed the departure of Martínez from the Cuban team, which had been reported hours earlier on Facebook by baseball journalist Francys Romero. Martínez will also attend Spring Training, with the aim of earning a spot on the New York Yankees roster for the Opening Day of next season's best professional baseball league in the world, explained Romero.

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These two athletes appeared on the list of 35 players that the state-owned Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation (FCBS) allegedly gave to the organizers of the Classic and was later leaked by the Facebook page "Por la Goma". With them, the MLB players who have dropped out of the Cuban team rise to ten.

The list published by Pelota Cubana USA includes, along with Labrada and Martínez, Yunior Tur, Daysbel Hernández, Lázaro Estrada, Jorge Marcheco, Rafael Sánchez, Andy Ibáñez, and Andy Pagés. Last week, Francys Romero announced that pitcher Silvano Hechavarría, of the Toronto Blue Jays, will also not play for Cuba in the Classic, as he is still recovering from discomfort and has no date to start pitching in games. The same day that Romero published the information, January 29th, the technical director of the Cuban team, Germán Mesa, was questioned by the accredited press on the Island about the MLB players who had said they would represent Cuba in the Classic and then declined to join the team. The former star shortstop's response was: "We are not in the minds of those players, I cannot speak for them." When journalists inquired if he believed that the athletes' refusal had been motivated by political issues, he said that "everyone is free to make their own decisions." Despite the bad news for Havana, there is a possibility that they can count on the services of infielder Yoan Moncada, who was already on Team Asere in 2023. Romero reported on Saturday on Facebook that the player received insurance approval and is expected to be on the Cuban team, according to sources. He and right-handed pitcher Yariel Rodríguez would so far be the two Major League players present in the Cuban team, although they have not yet been confirmed by the state Federation.

Weeks ago, it came to light that the right-hander received authorization from the Blue Jays to be part of Team Cuba, although with limitations regarding the role he can perform and the number of pitches he can throw.

The presence of Rodríguez in the Cuban team, if it materializes, will be very striking, considering that Havana tried to claim ten million dollars from him for abandoning his contract in Japan, which had been established through the Federation subordinate to the regime. While the losses of baseball players from the best baseball in the world in the Cuban team transcend, the National Commission of this sport on the Island (CNB) announced the disciplinary measure against the Artemisa pitcher Yunieski García, protagonist of the most recent violent event that has tarnished the playoffs of the already lackluster 64th edition of the National Series. García, who assaulted a Holguín fan on January 21, at the end of the second postseason game between the Cazadores de Artemisa and the local team, will miss four challenges. This means that Cazadores will not be able to count on their services at the beginning of the semifinals, which they managed to qualify for and in which they will face Las Tunas, starting this February 2nd. In the note released by the state sports media outlet Jit, the CNB indicated that the measure was taken "in accordance with the provisions of Article 20, subsection c), of Resolution 93 Disciplinary Regulations of the Baseball Competitive System" and will begin to be implemented "as of the player complies with the regulatory rest established for pitchers, which is understood to be from Sunday, January 25, 2026". "In order to adjust the measure of the sanction to be imposed, the significance of the event was taken into account, the absence of similar precedents in the player's person and the behavior of the fan, who was carrying a bat and repeatedly offended him", the Commission stated.