Cespedes, other Cuban baseball players face tough adjustment

By Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY/

OAKLAND – The first time Oakland Athletics rookie Yoenis Cespedes homered on U.S. soil, he stood and admired his 462-foot blast. The next day, Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez drilled him with a pitch. 

As if absorbing a new language weren't hard enough, the Cuban defector also has to learn baseball's unwritten rules at the major league level.

"In Cuba, when I hit a home run, one that I really hit well, I would stand and watch it and it was no big deal," Cespedes says in Spanish. "Here, it's different. You stay there watching it, and the next time up, they hit you." Cespedes: An MLB production in the making

Another could come Tuesday night as Cespedes and his fellow Cuban major leaguers might garner unwanted attention as Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen returns from a team-imposed five-game suspension for comments praising Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Cespedes fled Castro's regime for this opportunity, but he and others know the path to stardom isn't altogether smooth once they've left Cuba behind. It's a process rife with pitfalls, and his success in adjusting off the field figures to have a significant impact on his performance on it.

Cespedes, who signed a four-year, $36 million contract as a free agent in February, was much-hyped — a promotional video that ends with him roasting a pig went viral this winter — but the track record of Cuban stars has been mixed.

While half-brothers Livan and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez helped pitch their teams to World Series championships, Ariel Prieto and Rolando Arrojo had brief, injury-filled careers.

Jose Contreras, whose $32 million deal with the New York Yankees in 2003 set the Cuban record before Cespedes topped it, was the staff ace of the World Series-winning Chicago White Sox in 2005 but has gone 77-67 with a 4.54 ERA in his career.

Kendrys Morales emerged as an MVP candidate in 2009 before missing more than a season and a half with an ankle injury, and shortstops Alexei Ramirez, Yunel Escobar and Yuniesky Betancourt established themselves as productive everyday players.

Pitcher Alay Soler and first baseman Juan Miranda, on the other hand, have failed to stick in the majors.

The jury is still out on recent arrivals such as Aroldis Chapman, Dayan Viciedo and Jose Iglesias.

Peter Bjarkman, who has written extensively about Cuban baseball, points out that only a handful of the players who left the island to seek fortune in the majors were top stars. Several defectors, he said, were oversold to general managers, the news media and fans.

"When you only have a couple dozen players to look at," Bjarkman said via e-mail, "and when some of the more recent ones have come to the majors surrounded by some much hype and such unrealistic expectations, then it is not surprising that there have been disappointments, inconsistencies and some failures."

Facing superior pitching

Cespedes, 26, is batting .212 with three homers and seven RBI. He has reached base safely in nine out of 10 games but has also struck out in all but one game, for an alarming 15 times in 33 at-bats.  More >>