The Mesa brothers left Cuba. But what happens next?

By Jose de Jesus Ortiz

In another era, perhaps even just a decade ago, the image would have been jarring if not flat out scandalous in Cuba.

At a time when the major leagues are full of superstars who defected from Cuba, it wasn’t quite so jarring to learn that the sons of the legendary Cuban baseball superstar Victor Mesa have left their Caribbean Island in hopes of playing in the majors.

Even the image of one of Victor Mesa’s sons in a Team USA pullover hardly seemed surprising this past weekend even though the legendary father never would have dared such a tactic when he played.

“Never abandon your dreams,” Mesa’s oldest son Victor Victor posted on his Instagram account with a picture he posed for with his younger brother Victor Jr.

Victor Victor wore a red and blue Team USA pullover with the USA script across the chest in the picture he posted on Instagram. Victor Jr. wore a red pullover and a red Cuban national team hat with its iconic C logo in the picture.

A decade or two ago, most Latin American baseball experts would have laughed if you told them that the great Victor Mesa’s children would one day proudly don a Team USA pullover, even if only for a picture.

Victor Mesa was always viewed as a baseball icon in Cuba. He was considered among the island’s top baseball managers and loyal to Castro. He was considered among the Cuban baseball man who would never betray his country.

That mindset is from different era, though.

Once Cuban national team star Yuli Gurriel and his younger brother Lourdes Jr. defected in February 2016, nothing could shock the Cuban baseball world. For if Lourdes Gurriel Sr.’s sons would bolt their Carribean island, anything seemed possible.

Compared to Yuli Gurriel’s departure from Cuba, the Mesa exits aren’t quite as significant. Yuli Gurriel, after all, was a true baseball superstar in Cuba. His younger brother Lourdes also arrived with plenty of expectations, which is why the Toronto Blue Jays gave him a seven-year, $22 million contract in November 2016.

Baseball scouts in the majors don’t consider Victor Mesa’s sons – Victor Victor and Victor Jr. – in the same class as the Gurriel brothers.

Moreover, the majors and minors are already full of top Cuban talent with Aroldis Chapman of the Yankees, Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers, Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets, Jose Abreu of the White Sox and Yuli Gurriel among the biggest Cuban stars in the majors.

The Mesa sons aren’t viewed quite at that level.

Just last May the White Sox paid Cuban outfielder Luis Robert a franchise record deal for an international when they gave the then-19-year-old a $26 million contract.

So it wasn’t quite so stunning to learn that Victor Mesa’s sons had also left Cuba.

“It’s not shocking when players leave Cuba to find opportunities elsewhere because it’s become common more recently,” Cardinals assistant general manager Moises Rodriguez said. “When you hear of known Cuban baseball players leaving to seek opportunity, it’s not as surprising as it once was.”

Rodriguez, who served as the Cardinals’ director of international operations for a decade before he was promoted to assistant GM last September, would know. The native of Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, has scouted Cuban baseball players for more than a decade.

Rodriguez helped the Cardinals sign more than half a dozen Cuban prospects in recent years, including 2016 National League All-Star shortstop Aledmys Diaz.

It still remains unclear what the market will be for Victor Mesa’s sons.

“This is barely the start. A difficult road is ahead, full of discipline, dedication, commitment and many sacrifices. Thanks to all the people who are supporting us at this moment,” Victor Victor wrote on an Instagram post Saturday.

Victor Victor wore the Team USA pullover in the picture that accompanied that Instagram post, which would have angered Fidel Castro if the dictator were still alive.

Castro’s regime, which once banned Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez and other baseball players they suspected of wanting to defect, would have been embarrassed by the Mesa news a decade or two ago.

There was a time when major leaguers Rene Arocha, Livan Hernandez, Rolando Arrojo, Rey Ordoñez, Orlando “El Duque” Hernández and the Cuban defectors of their era feared for the family members they left behind in Cuba.

The mere act of defecting embarrassed Castro’s government one generation ago, so each player was hesitant to further agitate their island’s dictator long after they were safely in the U.S.
Hardly anybody is surprised when another Cuban big leaguer leaves the island in search of baseball riches in the majors.

The Gurriel brothers are considered baseball royalty in Cuba because their father Lourdes was a legendary star who helped Cuba win gold medals at the 1992 Olympics and at multiple Baseball World Cups, Pan American Games and Intercontinental Cups.

Victor Mesa Sr. was part of the Cuban national team that won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in Barcelona. He and the senior Gurriel helped their national team win numerous gold medal in international tournaments, helping Castro spread his propaganda through baseball lore.

The senior Mesa and Gurriel remained loyal to the Cuban national team while a few of their teammates defected. Yet, now Victor Mesa’s sons are following the same path that Lourdes Gurriel’s sons embarked on two years ago.

There was a time not long ago when Castro would have cringed at the thought of Victor Mesa Sr. and Lourdes Gurriel Sr. leaving his island to play in the major leagues.

The old dictator would have hated seeing one of Victor Mesa’s sons proudly donning a Team USA pullover.

Featured Image: Matt Roberts / Getty Images Sport