Unique arrangement
Panthers sign deal for four Cuban players
KITCHENER — The Kitchener Panthers have signed a new deal with Cuba’s national baseball federation that will send a catcher, shortstop and two familiar pitchers north to Canada for the 2017 Intercounty Baseball League season.
The deal, signed this week in Havana, sends pitchers Noelvis Entenza and Ian Rendon back to the Panthers for another summer. Not returning is catcher Frank Morejon, who injured himself diving into the dugout during the World Baseball Classic last month.
Replacing Morejon behind the plate at Kitchener’s Jack Couch Park will be Yulexis La Rosa, a 37-year-old veteran of Cuba’s top baseball league. He hit .301 for his Cuban team, Villa Clara, last season.
The shortstop, Yorbis Borroto, 32, is captain of the Tigres de Ciego de Avila, and a former national team player for Cuba. He has a lifetime .298 average in the Cuban league.
It’s the second year in a row the Kitchener team has signed the unique arrangement with Cuba’s baseball federation. All four players will be on temporary loan to the Panthers, and will return to their respective Cuban teams at the end of the IBL playoffs in August.
“It’s great news. We’re thrilled to have them,” said Mike Boehmer, the Panthers director who travelled to Cuba five times this off-season to broker the deal. “We’re really excited to have players of their calibre coming here.”
One reason the deal took so long to hammer out was the fact the four imports may miss the first three weeks of their Cuban season because they could still be playing in Canada, he said.
“That was one of the sticking points of the negotiations. But we’re not going to bring up any imports who aren’t available to us in the playoffs,” Boehmer said.
The team wanted Morejon to return, he said, but the defensive-minded backstop is still on crutches after injuring his left leg chasing a foul ball at the World Baseball Classic. That’s when the Panthers switched to “Plan B” and started looking at other catchers.
La Rosa is considered an improvement offensively from Morejon, but doesn’t quite have his fielding abilities. Still, he mentored under Ariel Pestano, considered by many to be the best Cuban catcher of all time.
“Frank recommended him,” said Boehmer. “He’s had a lot of international competition, a real strong character guy and a good all-around catcher.”
Borroto will replace longtime shortstop Mike Glinka, who retired in the off-season. The Cuban infielder has a reputation as clubhouse leader, and has exceptional plate discipline. His best season came in 2015, when he hit .354 in 83 games, with an outstanding .943 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Entenza was a workhorse for the Panthers last season, winning nine games and striking out 82 in 80 innings with a 4.05 ERA.
Rendon, a left-hander, won six games for Kitchener in 2016, compiling a 3.25 ERA.
“We’re really glad to have those guys back, and we think they’ll help the new guys assimilate into the community and with the team,” Boehmer said.
“And I think Entenza and Rendon will be even better this year. This time, they’ll know the league, they’ll know who the dangerous hitters are.”
Rendon and Borroto have some familiarity. They played on the Cuban national team that won the World Junior Championship in 2004.
All four import players will share a townhouse the team has rented for them.
The Panthers will have a season kickoff event in the Subscriber’s Lounge at the Aud on May 6 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. to introduce the team. The season begins the following day, with a game in Toronto.
The team’s home opener is Sunday, May 14, against defending champions Barrie Baycats, who swept the Panthers in the semifinals last year.
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