Cuba Announces Third Roster Change for Baseball Americas Cup

Holguín outfielder Yasiel Gonzalez has been added to the Cuban national team that will participate in the first Baseball Americas Cup, replacing Yoel Yanqui, the national federation announced today.

In a post on the digital social network X, the country's baseball governing body stated that Yanqui was unable to join the team due to his failure to complete the immigration paperwork required to travel from Nicaragua to Panama, the host country of the competition.

Through the same digital platform, they announced that the coaching staff decided his spot would be taken by Yasiel González, who is batting .386 in the current domestic baseball season and has hit 14 home runs among his 51 hits.

This Friday, the Cuban federation also reported the loss of Alfredo Despaigne due to a last-minute medical issue and his replacement by Dennis Laza, whose initial absence from the roster had generated controversy among fans and the sports press due to his performance in the ongoing National Series.

Previously, Havana's Frank Herrera took the spot in the pitching staff left by Villaclareño Darío Sarduy, who was unable to participate due to health problems that prevented him from being in shape for the Pan-American baseball event.

The first edition of the Baseball Americas Cup will be held in Panama between the 13th and 22nd of this month, with the attendance of the top 12 countries in the continental ranking, except for the United States, which declined to attend.

The Cuban squad, which is training in Matanzas to finalize its preparations, will debut against Nicaragua on the 13th. They will subsequently compete in preliminary Group A, which has been labeled the "group of death" due to the concentration of quality teams, facing Venezuela (14th), the Dominican Republic (15th), Mexico (16th), and Curaçao (17th).

The other segment includes Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, and the host team.

The tournament will assign four spots for the 2026 Santo Domingo Central American and Caribbean Games and five spots for the 2027 Lima Pan American Games.