Gurriel brothers defected

Two of Cuba’s top talents fled the Ciego de Avila team that played in the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic.

The two have stated several times before that they wanted to leave the country in a legal way and with the permission of the Cuban government.

Yulieski (31 years old) is considered the best player in Cuba, while his younger brother Lourdes (22 years old) is regarded the best prospect from the socialist republic and many think that he is MLB ready material.
Yulieski has played for the Yokohama Bay Stars of the NPB in 2014.

Yulieski and his older brother Yunieski were one of the few Cuban players that were allowed to play abroad. Yunieski played for the Quebec Capitales (CanAm League) in 2015 and was a team mate of Dutch player Kalian Sams.

Lourdes has played for Industriales and Sanctus Spiritus of the Series Nacional and played also for the Yokohama Bay Stars in 2015.

According to the guidelines of Major League Baseball, players that are 23 or older and have played in the Cuban national competition, can become free agent right away as soon as they report in the US. In the case of Lourdes, he will have to wait a couple of months before turning 23. The other possibility is that he will Cuban players go directly to the United States are subject to the signing guidelines of the MLB Draft because he is not 23 yet.

It isn’t the first time that Cuban players have fled the team/country while being abroad. Aroldis Champman was in the Netherlands, where the Cuban team was about to participate in the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam as he left the team. For those players it is the safest way of fleeing the country instead doing so by vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The distance between Cuba and Florida is about 200 kilometers and is considered a dangerous crossing due to the Florida Currant.