Rays in Cuba
 

Leaving out all politics (as per the rules), anyone else excited about the Rays VS Cuba game tomorrow?

They have been known as good baseball country, and am excited to see how they do against the Rays.

I think it's really cool. The world pretends a lot has changed, but many things continue to be the same. Throughout recent American history the game of baseball has bridged many gaps and elicited changes in our way of life that seemed to be greater than a game. And it's nice to see baseball paving diplomatic ways even today.

Would be better if Cespedes/Abreu/jose fernandez were still on the Cuba team.....its like we get to pick off their best 20 guys and throw those guys to the side then play the remaining guys...and their country already much smaller population wise ...

Cespedes and Abreu were in their upper 20's when they finally came. Cespedes is now 30 and Abreu 29. Jose Fernandez defected in 2008 when he was still in H.S.. These three guys will have little affect on their team roster.

I do agree that their player poll isn't as large as the US, but it is essentially their All-Star team against a team that was just below .500 last year so it isn't like we are sending our All-Star team.

im sure there are guys on the Rays that are over 25 years old and touching 30..not sure why you mention the ages of Cespedes an Abreu....and there are a bunch more like Chapman etc.

also there are many cuban prospects over in the U.S. that not famous yet like Cespedes that would be on that cuban team to make it a true all star team....so again we are facing a team minus their best 20 or so players...cant say its not a HUGE affect on their team roster and the population difference between the two countries is HUGE

plus Boxberger and Archer are all stars from last year..plus Longoria is on that team etc

See how I specifically mentioned the three players your brought up and said their effect is little. Then you add 17 players and say I can't say that isn't a "HUGE" affect. I never said that the defecting of players didn't have an effect I actually agreed that they had a small population.

The Ray's best player as ranked by ESPN is Chris Archer and he isn't starting in tomorrow's game and is ranked in 2015 as #43 in MLB. So again we aren't sending over our best. The only two all-stars the TBRays had last year were two pitchers.

We aren't sending our top 20 players so stop talking like we are sending our best players to a team that is deprived of all their Nation's best players. It isn't a fair argument.

In 1999 the Orioles lost in Baltimore 12-6 and won 3-2 in Cuba against the team. Obviously times have changed, but to assume that their small population vs America's talent poll makes it too lop sided to make it fun just doesn't work historically.

They still have a lot of young talent that hasn't been able to defect or are Cuban loyalists and I am looking forward to the game.

"In 1999 the Orioles lost in Baltimore 12-6 and won 3-2 in Cuba against the team. Obviously times have changed, but to assume that their small population vs America's talent poll makes it too lop sided to make it fun just doesn't work historically.

They still have a lot of young talent that hasn't been able to defect or are Cuban loyalists and I am looking forward to the game".


Much less than in 1999. The impact of not sending all of our all stars (assuming not sending cubans) impacts us much less than taking away the top 20 players for cuba given the relative populations of the 2 countries and the lack of opportunities for some would be players if they didnt have to feed their family etc..

like i said...will be something to watch but i wish they had their best players werent picked off......plus age disparity between the two teams is probably pretty big as most of the major league caliber guys like you said in the late 20s are gone and in the U.S.... heck there is a Player on the RAys that played for Cuba 3 years ago....so we taking a top player from them and making him play against them...you dont see any former americans playing for cuba...not a level playing field

matt moore is reporting to start......saying that archer isnt starting means nothing and is a whole different argument..he will be there...thats the Rays choice...if all of the all stars were there maybe Kershaw doesnt start either...that would be an argument... the cubans cant choose for Chapman to play because hes in the U.S......the Rays can choose anyone to play

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The point of the game isn't to see whose team is better. I think it's the gesture that's important.

Coverage by ESPN
 

Granted, the names of the Cuban players are unknown to 99.9% of viewers, and I'll admit I was only able to see the last 3-4 innings of the game - but has there ever been another telecast by ESPN (or any other network) where there was virtually no mention of the players, very little commentary about the game on the field - all giving way to banter, interviews, opinions, comments about the greats of the game from the past 50 years, but no discussion of who made the sliding catch, hit the home run, etc.?

the center fielder for cuba replaced Cespedes when he defected is what they said in the game...he not nearly as good