Super long but outstanding article on Cuban baseball

by Michael Lewis of Moneyball fame.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/feature..._baseball200807

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospe...rld-cup-roster/

No mention of Alexei (Villa Clara makes it), Aroldis Chapman or Dayan Viciedo because it was written in the first half of 2008. The biggest names in the story are Leslie Anderson (AAA for Rays at age 29), Yunesky Maya, Yuniesky Betancourt, El Duque, Jose Contreras, Ariel Prieto and Rene Arocha.

It's really amazing that we ended up with those two guys, after reading this story. How we could scout Cuba so well (especially the Ramirez deal) and not have any success in the DR and especially Venezuela is beyond me. Also, Jaime Torres, the agent for many of the Cubans over the last 5 years or so doesn't figure into this...

One can only guess that JR hasn't prioritized the spending of big money in these markets...but it's now severely hamstringing the White Sox going forward.

Edited September 26, 201114 yr by caulfield12