By: Francys Romero
The season of Major League Baseball in 2014 concluded for Cubans. However, players from the Island have signed a year of dramatic stories and individual performances that made it to record books. Five Cubans were included in the All Star Game; they would have been six if José Fernández had not been injured that May night at Petco Park. In total there were 25 Cubans in the big leagues this year, including 8 rookies.
We propose a final balance of the Cuban players that dazzled the Majors in 2014 by order of relevance and contribution to the team wins (WAR). We also included those that left traces of talent and will return or debut in 2015.
José Dariel Abreu
(317/383/581) 36 HR 107 RBI
ALL STAR GAME / WAR: 5.5
Just named Rookie of the Year in the American league by Sporting News, and probably with the same outcome in the ¨real¨, scouts predicted Abreu was a 25 HR and 85 RBI player. Abreu showed to be superior to this, a top player. He was second in OPS (964) in the American League second only to Victor Martinez and Rookie of the Month three times (April, June, July). He was also selected as Player of the Month in April and July. Broke the HR record for rookies in his franchise that belonged to Ron Kittle (35 in 1983) with 36 and, in addition, he will be nominated for the Most Valuable Player Award and the Hank Aaron Award. The legend continues since Abreu joined the select club of Hal Trosky, Ted Williams and Albert Pujols to have more than 30 doubles, 30 HR and 100 RBI in his rookie year.
Aroldis Chapman
(0-3) 2.00 PCL 0.83 WHIP
ALL STAR GAME / WAR: 2.7
The only reason Chapman doesn’t receive a Cy young is because he is a closer and pitches in the same league that Clayton Kershaw. He struck out 106 batters in 54 innings with only 24 walks and one homer allowed. He crashed the previous MLB K/9 Ratio belonging to Craig Kimbrel (16.6) and took it out of Earth to 17.67.
Yasiel Puig
(296/382/480) 16 HR 69 RBI
ALL STAR GAME / WAR: 5.4
Puig showed again he is a star player in 2014. He still, at 24, has tools to polish and explode. He lacked consistency in his power, and fell into a slump mid-season. However, he was sixth in the league in OBP and tenth in Wins over replacement.
Alexei Ramírez
(273/305/408) 15 HR 74 RBI
ALL STAR GAME / WAR: 3.3
Alexei Ramírez
It is not easy to replace Derek Jeter in his final All-Star game. Alexei Ramirez will have a story to tell his grandchildren. The Cuban regained power this season with 15 homers and 52 extra-base hits. His actions declined from August and still he returned to hit over 170 hits and steal more than 20 bases. His pending homework is getting walks (he only did it 24 times). At the defense he returned to steal applause and could be nominated for a Gold Glove while on offense he could take home his second Silver Slugger (award rests with the more offensive position player of the year).
Yoennis Céspedes
(260/301/450) 22 HR 100 RBI
ALL STAR GAME / WAR: 1.3
Céspedes was mired in a controversial season after being traded to Boston. He won for the second consecutive year the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game and drove in 100 runs. He proved to be a player with brilliant defense and run production. He needs to improve his walks (35) and strikeouts (128) ratio.
Leonys Martín
(274/325/369) 7 HR 40 RBI
WAR: 4.7
Martin signed a full season playing in 155 games. He proved to have fundamental and necessary tools to succeed in the MLB: contact, speed and defense. He was the most prominent Texas outfielder in 2014 and possibly the defensive player of the franchise along with Adrian Beltre. If his power increases in the future, Martin could be an impact above average player.
Special mentions: Adeinys Hechavarría, Roennis Elías, Odrisamer Despaigne, Yunel Escobar and Yoslan Herrera.
Hacia el futuro: Rusney Castillo, Jorge Soler, Yasmani Tomás and Yoan Moncada.
