Playoffs will be a baseball showcase

HAVANA.- None of the four major teams in the history of Cuban baseball will go to the post-season of the 54th National Series. Instead, Matanzas, Ciego de Ávila, Granma and Isle of Youth will be in charge of staging the playoffs, on which Cuba and the sport’s top officials are betting a lot more than the national crown.

Forget the sports transcendence; ignore the fact that this could be the year of Victor Mesa, Matanzas’ coach; remove statistics, forecasts and interminable debates from the table. These playoffs will be remembered only by those whose team wins; for the rest of the fans, it will be just the season when none of the giants was present.

On the other hand, maybe the most important aspect of the post-season will not be its outcome but who will be there to watch it, and the possible repercussions of their presence at the games.

First is Juan Francisco Puello, president of the Federation of Caribbean Professional Baseball (CBPC), who in March, during the recently ended Caribbean Series, announced his intention to visit Cuba.

Puello’s presence on the island is an interesting point, particularly since there is a firm proposal from Cuba to join the Federation as a member with full rights and responsibilities. That move has been slowed down by the relations that exist between the winter leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB), although it has been okayed by the CBPC and the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB).

As announced by Heriberto Sánchez, the highest representative in Cuba of the National Baseball Directorate (DNB), Puello’s presence should coincide with the final games. He is expected to be joined by a working group formed by regional representatives of the CBPC.

That group will deal with two essential issues during its meetings with Cuban sports authorities: first, Cuba’s access to the CBPC as a full member, and second, the definition and limitations of the MLB’s jurisdiction and influence on those leagues.

Suárez explained that, depending on the course taken during the negotiations, other extremely important secondary issues might emerge, such as the hiring of Cuban players in the area, and the real possibility of Cuba bidding for the site of the Caribbean classic in 2019 or 2020. The latter possibility was taken up by some communications media after the games in San Juan in February.

As if that weren’t enough, Suárez explained that the playoffs will be closely watched by scouts from numerous international leagues who have expressed an interest in traveling to Cuba.

In that regard, Suárez said that “all the countries that foresee hiring players in November and December next will pay special attention to this playoff series, which will be a sort of showcase for our athletes. At the playoffs we’ll see visitors from the main leagues of those countries, I can confirm that.”

Reinforcing the idea of the Cuban post-season being a “showcase,” Higinio Vélez Carrión, president of the FCT, told the sports media that the visit of scouts who will evaluate the Cuban players for numerous teams has been confirmed and, evidently, authorized.

He said that his organization has received messages of interest from clubs in Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Canada, as well as some European clubs.

Some of the clubs, according to Vélez, are the Margarita Bravos (Venezuela), the Tomateros of Culiacán (Mexico), and Les Capitales de Québec (Canada), where Yuniesky Gourriel, the oldest of three brothers, recently played.

Fortunately, everything indicates that Cuban baseball is beginning to take the initiative regarding hirings and understands that its games could become a real spectacle, an “exhibitional” opportunity for our players to show their skills under pressure.

That impression is reinforced by the confirmation that the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) will guarantee the broadcast — live and in full — of the playoffs to approximately 60 countries.

Add to this the DNB’s determination to promote a sports show that will include galas in all the stadiums where the playoffs will be played, as well as an invitation to renowned baseball personalities to throw the first pitch at those events.

Above all, we’re talking about a valid strategy of marketing that should have been conceived long ago. Finally, the Cuban sports leaders are getting the idea and seem to be betting on the National Series and the post-season as a true showcase of talent.