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Cuban player seeks block from draft

By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 1, 2001

TAMPA -- A month ago, 27-year-old Rolando Viera left his Cuban homeland with the hope of playing big-league baseball in the United States.

Today, a decision by a federal judge may determine whether he stays in the United States.

Viera, a left-handed pitcher with a fastball in the low 90s, has asked a federal judge to block Major League Baseball from drafting him next week.

Viera's lawyer contends the league's policy unfairly targets Cubans by forcing them into the draft with U.S. residents, limiting their chance to sign a contract with the team of their choice.

Foreign players from other countries are allowed to avoid the draft and sign as free agents.

Viera's lawyer, Alan Gura, said several teams would like to sign Viera. But without the court's intervention, he said, Viera must choose between the draft and establishing residence in another country for a year before seeking re-entry.

"We want him to have the same rights that he'd have if he came here from any other country," Gura said. "We don't think it's rational that just because the Cuban government is repressive, that justifies treating Cubans any differently."

After obtaining a single-entryvisa from the U.S. government, Viera was banished from baseball by the Cuban government, which suspected he planned to defect. Viera said he became an outcast in his homeland, forbidden from speaking to his father, a military official, in public.

He left Cuba on April 25. He has been staying at a hotel in Tampa. He said Thursday he wants to stay in Florida, where he has relatives. He said he has dreamed of playing American baseball since he was a child, and wants to bring his wife here.

Baseball officials say the rules for the draft help "ensure competitive balance among the teams and prevent wealthy teams from cornering the top talent."

U.S. District Judge James Whittemore is scheduled to hear the case at 3 p.m. today.

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