ARLINGTON, Texas — Having returned to one former home this week when the Seattle Mariners opened the season at Texas, center fielder Leonys Martin can’t help but wonder whether he’ll ever be allowed to return to play for his homeland.
Cuba.
It’s not at the front of his thoughts, certainly.
Martin, 28, is still fitting into his new club, and he’s yet to enter the home clubhouse at Safeco Field. Even so, the past pushed in hard this week when he returned to Globe Life Park for the first time as a visiting player.
It was Martin’s two-out RBI double that broke a tie in the seventh inning Tuesday before the Mariners turned the game into a 10-2 rout that saw the benches nearly empty when things grew tense in a six-run eighth inning.
Martin was among the first out of the dugout before tempers cooled. Asked afterward how it felt to be lined up in a potential conflict against former teammates, he left no doubt regarding his loyalties.
“I love Seattle,” he said. “I love my new team, my new teammates and coaching staff.” They are his future, and he was ready to rumble, but the past still tugs in different ways.
And Martin is hopeful.
A potential benefit from the escalating baseball diplomacy between the United States and Cuba is the possibility that defectors such as Martin might again play for their national team.
Cuban baseball commissioner Heriberto Suarez was quoted last month by FoxSports.com as saying “everything is on the table” in regard to his country’s new willingness to work with Major League Baseball.
Those comments came in the glow of the visit by the Tampa Bay Rays to Havana to play an exhibition game against the Cuban national team and followed a goodwill tour last December by several major-league players.
“Oh, I wish,” said Martin, who had three more hits Wednesday when the Mariners rallied for a 9-5 victory over the Rangers.
“That would be an amazing feeling to represent your country again. To be able to play for your fans and your family again, it would be an amazing feeling. That would be one of my dreams.”
Suarez cautioned that any such arrangement would need to be part of a larger agreement between the Cuban and U.S. governments along with Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association.
Union chief Tony Clark addressed that topic on a visit to the Mariners’ spring camp and suggested that reaching such an agreement, while desirable and beneficial to all sides, presents a significant challenge.
“It’s oftentimes difficult,” Clark said, “when it’s a two-way conversation to find common ground. It can be even more of a challenge when you have more people at the table, and have different interests, to find common ground.
“I am hopeful that, because of everything that has happened … the train is moving. It may not be moving as fast as some would like. But the truth is it’s moving.”
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expects the issue of player movement from Cuba to be part of the upcoming labor talks. Common ground between the club owners and players should aid discussions between the two governments.
Cuba would, almost certainly, want some sort of financial compensation for allowing its top stars to leave the island. But it is also proud of its baseball heritage and likely to see the benefit of reuniting its stars for international events.
Such as the World Baseball Classic, which will be held again next year.
Martin is one of 23 Cuban-born players who opened this season on a big-league roster. Others include such stars as Jose Abreu, Yasiel Puig, Aroldis Chapman, Kendrys Morales and Jose Fernandez.
“Could we win (the WBC)?” Martin asked. “It would be hard, but we’d be a good team. The Dominican Republic is good also. And Venezuela. But we’d have a good team.”
Right now, no deal is close, and Martin reiterated his focus is centered on the Mariners and the upcoming season. But starting the season at Texas inevitably reminded him of his past.
He spent five years in the Rangers’ organization after defecting in 2010 before a November 2015 trade brought him to the Mariners.
“It was strange to be back to Texas (as an opponent),” Martin said. “A little weird. But that’s part of my past. Seattle is my present.”
As for the dream of playing again for Cuba, it’s still there. Maybe on the back burner. But always simmering.
“I know it’s something that people are working on,” Martin said, “but I know it’s going to take a little while for that to happen. Let’s see. I would love to play for Cuba again.”
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