National Series #51 Preview: The New Season Features Numerous Changes
by Peter C. Bjarkman
December 16, 2011
Last year’s Golden Anniversary season was truly one for the ages. A surprise league champion, a dramatic triple crown chase by José Dariel Abreu (one that fell but a single RBI short), an early season no-hitter authored by Pinar del Río’s Vladimir Baños (appropriately number 51 in league annals), retirement of pitching legend Pedro Luis Lazo – these were only a handful of the epic events that made the landmark fiftieth National Series campaign one that likely will be discussed for decades to come. It will certainly be difficult to match or even approximate so memorable a campaign. But a promising new season has now already been launched, and if National Series #51 will almost assuredly fall somewhat short of its predecessor in both drama and record book renovation, it certainly will not be lacking in unprecedented novelty.
For one thing, the upcoming 2011-12 campaign features more drastic structural changes in the face of the National Series than any season of recent memory. For starters, the “overly lively” Japanese-made baseball of recent vintage (Mizuno 150) is now being replaced by a slightly heavier Mizuno 200, with the hopeful result of modifying excessive slugging that has lately rewritten league record books. More noticeably, there will be a record number of new managers, with ten of seventeen clubs now boasting new field boss. And seven of the managerial changes feature first-time skippers with no previous top-level experience. Two brand new teams will also make debut appearances, and one familiar and highly successful ball club has now faded into the historical archives. Night baseball is returning to the capital city this year with the two-year renovation of the lighting system at historic Latin American Stadium now finally completed.
And there will be other less spectacular innovations buried alongside these more prominent ones. For one thing, the league will now feature an imbalanced schedule that expands the season to 96 games and requires other tweaks to accommodate the uneven number of league teams. These changes will mean that one ball club will sit idle during each three-game series, league games will once again spread across all seven days of the week (the traditional Monday open date now abandoned), numerous dates will feature only three or four contests rather than the customary full slate of league games. And there will even be scheduled doubleheaders (usually of the split morning-afternoon variety), a popular fan luxury long ago stolen from North American big league aficionados by profit-minded corporate ownership.
As a result of last spring’s splitting of Habana Province into two new governmental entities – the newly founded provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque – the original Habana Province Cowboys (league champions only three seasons back) have been reconstituted as the Artemisa Hunters (Cazadores) and Mayabeque Hurricanes (Huracanes). Mayabeque continues to occupy somewhat dilapidated Nelson Fernández Stadium in San Jose de las Lajas and retains several of the most valuable position players who suited up for the Cowboys in recent seasons (most notably catcher Danger Guerrero and first baseman Ernesto Molinet). Manager Esteban Lombillo and almost the entire stellar pitching staff (featuring Jonder Martínez, Yadier Pedroso, Angel Garcia, Yulieski González, Miguel Alfredo González and Miguel Lahera) now move over to Artemisa. It was initially assumed that the splitting of one ball club into two would necessitate the abandonment of longtime league doormat Metropolitanos – the capital city’s fan-starved second league team. But in the end politics overruled baseball practicality and the Metros Warriors survived for at least one more historic campaign. A fallout from that decision was the awkward new league structure and a calendar now forced to accommodate the imbalanced nine-team Occidental League (Western Division).
Will Victor Mesa's colorful style make Matanzas the surprise team of the year?
A nearly full slate of substitute managers is certain to have an impact on the ever-changing face of the league. Especially noteworthy is the return of Victor Mesa, who after a two-year absence from Villa Clara now turns up at the helm of perennial tail-ender Matanzas. Also certain to draw the nation’s attention is the managerial change in Havana, with popular former national team star (1996 Atlanta Olympics first baseman) Lázaro Vargas replacing the volatile and controversial Germán Mesa. Lourdes Gourriel has departed Sancti Spíritus for the second time in the past half-decade and will be replaced by untested Ruperto Zamoa. And perhaps the most surprising bench shift came only days before the season’s opener when it was announced that last year’s manager-of-the-year honoree Alfonso Urquiola would be replaced in Pinar del Río by former local catching hero (and recent Sancti Spíritus bench boss) Juan Castro. Other sideline replacements are Rigoberto Madera (who takes over the reins of the new club in Mayabeque), Indalecio Alejandrez (Granma), Juan Miguel Gordo (Las Tunas), Ramon Moré (Villa Clara), Felicio García (Holguín), and Alcides Sánchez (Santiago de Cuba).
Last winter’s RBI and home run champion (Yoenis Céspedes) is now missing from the scene, but plenty of familiar heroes – Cepeda, Gourriel, Despaigne, Bell, Olivera, Abreu, Pestano, Freddy Asiel Alvarez, Yadier Pedroso, and dozens more – are back to write new headlines. In the paragraphs below the reader will find my brief analyses of each ball club, as well as my own predictions on how the season may well sort itself out between now and the start of the post-season playoffs in late April. The order in which teams are discussed is also the approximate order in which I assume the year-end league standings will take shape.
And a few additional views from my crystal ball might be appropriate here. I will go out on an early limb here and suggest that the new season will likely bring each of the following events: a new single season home run record by Alfredo Despaigne (perhaps as many as 37), two no-hit and no-run games, a first batting title for novice Ciego de Avila stalwart Rusney Castillo, a record number of losses posted by Isla de la Juventud (my guess is 72 defeats), and manager of the year honors for Guantánamo skipper Agustin Lescaille. So let the new round of games begin.
Occidental (Western) League
This division promises to feature a volatile pennant race between four of the island’s strongest contenders. Cienfuegos would once again look like the team to beat here, especially if José Dariel Abreu comes close to matching last season’s slugging output, if Yasiel Puig returns from his brief suspension, and if ace lefty Norberto González continues to perform as the circuit’s most effective southpaw workhorse. Sancti Spíritus is again strong on paper but it remains to be seen just how the Gallos will respond to a third managerial change of the past four seasons. The biggest unknown quantities in this circuit seem to be Industriales (again forced to rebound from defections by key young pitching prospects) and defending champion Pinar del Río (not likely to enjoy the same kind of miracle season now that inspirational skipper Alfonso Urquiola has been forced aside at the eleventh hour). Cienfuegos is the most likely winner, with Sancti Spíritus the hottest pursuer.
This club will be carried mostly by José Dariel Abreu’s oversized bat and the limber arm of Norberto González (last season’s top starting left-hander). A strong supporting cast includes Noelvis Entenza (11-4, 2.54 ERA) and record-setting circuit saves leader Duniel Ibarra (5-0, 1.27, with 27 games rescued). Erisbel Arruebarruena is the most promising island shortstop to come along since Germán Mesa broke in as a rookie a couple of decades back. But fleet-footed Yasiel Puig (.330, 17 HRs, 47 RBI) remains a huge unknown factor; the muscular second-year outfielder was something of a surprise sensation during the Golden Anniversary season but a late summer disciplinary suspension may keep him on the sidelines for at least a good part of the campaign. Manager Iday Abreu has more than enough weapons to hold off either the Gallos or Lions, provided that slugger José Dariel Abreu remains healthy (he missed nearly three weeks to nagging injuries last time around yet still fell only a single RBI short of posting a first-ever National Series triple crown). A solid late-season return by Puig could be all that is needed to push the talent-rich Elephants clear over the top.
No team in the league boasts more superstars on offense than do the potent Gallos under new manager Ruperto Zamora. Frederich Cepeda (.397, with 28 HRs and 81 RBI, and a menace from both sides of the plate), Yulieski Gourriel (.339, 20, 81), and veteran catcher Eriel Sánchez anchor a lineup that also features Yenier Bello (.318, 19, 64), Liván Monteagudo (.324, 16, 65), and lefty-swinging first sacker Yunier Mendoza. These Sancti Spíritus bashers paced the division in both round trippers and runs tallied a year ago; and they were also plenty solid defensively with the league’s fewest recorded errors. The underlying question here will be how well the club adjusts to still another managerial change and also what happens over the course of the lengthy campaign with a sometimes-less-than-reliable pitching corps. Ismel Jimenez is one of Cuba’s best right-handed starters and has been a frequent national team fixture in recent summers; Angel Peña was the Series ERA pacesetter only two years ago; and as a composite staff the Gallos last year paced the circuit in strikeouts. But the downside here is that the bullpen is shaky and no established “closer” has emerged in recent seasons.
The island’s most consistent favorites are also one of this year’s big question marks. Reported bench dissensions handicapped the team during Germán Mesa’s first season at the helm in 2010, yet a late season charge brought a surprise championship that likely saved Mesa’s job. Last winter was a total disaster with the club falling short of the post-season party for the first time since the mid-nineties and Mesa’s short tenure quickly coming to a calamitous end. The first issue therefore has to be a managerial change which now has Mesa’s former national team colleague Lázaro Vargas taking the reins. And once again a handful of promising prospects (“defectors” all) has been lost from last year’s already thin pitching corps – headed by durable right-hander Armando Rivera, promising southpaw Joan Socorrás and league rookie of the year Gerardo Concepción (10-3, 3.36 ERA). But there is still plenty of slugging on this club which features former national team first sacker Alexander Malleta (coming off his best campaign ever; .322, 27 HRs, 76 RBI) and productive outfielders Serguei Pérez (.366, 12, 80) and Yoandry Urgellés (.359, 9, 67). The return of night games in Latin American Stadium (a factor that will likely mean larger home crowds in the nation’s capital) may also boost pennant prospects for the almost always pesky Blue Lions.
If there is to be a Cinderella team this winter – matching the one last season in Pinar del Río – then it will most likely be the also-rans from Matanzas. This is the only club never to make a post-season visit across the quarter-century of Cuban League playoffs (the current system began back in 1986), and under Victor Mesa the Crocodiles can’t seem to go anywhere but up. But how much magic can Mesa work before his overbearing ways begin to wear thin like they once did in Villa Clara? Three things were always certain with Mesa sitting at the end of the bench in Santa Clara: the first was plenty of unorthodox managerial moves, the second was a flamboyant dugout style which often seemed focused on drawing more attention to the manager than to his players; and the third was an annual post-season berth. Mesa often appeared to be more effective training young players than directing veterans (who usually didn’t live up to his own exceptional standards as a superstar performer). Now his skills will receive an ultimate test in the form of a team that has spent the last half-decade competing with the Havana Metros for the title of league doormat. “El Loco” certainly has a load of raw talent to work with; there are nine returnees sporting lifetime batting marks above .300, including Lázaro Herrera (.319, 21 HRs, 73 RBI) and fleet Ariel Sánchez, arguably the best lead-off man in the entire league. A quick break from the gate over the first two weeks (eight wins in the first dozen games) has already hinted that Matanzas may well be this winter’s surprising headline story.
The oldest mantra in baseball is one that says that great pitching always wins out in the end. This will be a viewpoint severely tested this winter with one of the league’s two spanking new clubs. The splitting of Habana Province brought all the top pitchers on the league’s strongest staff over to Artemisa, as well as crafty manager Esteban Lombillo (known especially as a savvy handler of pitchers). But the former Cowboys club has also lost a ton of veterans among its position players – especially catcher Danger Guerrero, who handled the league’s best mound corps with intelligence and substantial game-calling skill. The bad news is that this team will have to survive entirely on pitching; the good news is that the pitching in question includes five of the eleven national team hurlers from the recent summer: Yulieski González (15-0 in 2008), Yadier Pedroso (league ERA champion in 2009), Jonder Martínez (also an ERA leader in 2008), Miguel Lahera (surprisingly the most reliable starter at the Panama World Cup this October), and Miguel Alfredo González (branded the best Cuban big league prospect by a wide majority in the MLB scouting fraternity). The remarkable Artemisa mound quintet also already accounted for 369 lifetime national series wins. And for good measure the bullpen contains Angel García, still the circuit’s all-time leader in ballgames saved.
It is difficult to believe that last year’s surprise champions can pull off any more magic a second time around. But the question seems to involve just how far they might actually fall. Manager Juan Castro (a surprise last-minute substitute for Alfonso Urquiola) faces perhaps the toughest task among the league’s new skippers, given the elevated expectations that always attach to a defending champion. Many believe that the bulk of last year’s success was a clear result of crafty leadership and inspiration provided by manager Urquiola. This team has also suffered the most roster instability in recent seasons outside of Industriales, losing several top stars via “defections” of such headliners as Alexei Ramírez, Yunieski Maya and Jorge Padrón. But there still is some hefty and experienced talent on hand, and a boatload of veteran leadership. Only a few years back oft-injured receiver Yosvani Peraza was one of the island’s primer sluggers; third sacker Donald Duarte has never been able to unseat Yulieski Gourriel or Michel Enríquez on the national squad but nevertheless continues to pile up impressive regular season outings; Lorenzo Quintana is one of Cuba’s best young catching prospects; William Saavedra remains among the island’s top utility players (as an outfielder-DH-first baseman); and (in the pitching department) both Vladimir Baños and Yosvany Torres are capable workhorse veteran starters. This team could finish second; it could also finish sixth.
Common wisdom has it that this will be the league’s worst outfit; the new club that occupies the former home of Habana Province in archaic Nelson Fernández Stadium was stripped of virtually all the former province’s exceptional pitching talent. My Havana colleague Daniel de Malas holds the opinion that the newborn Hurricanes are a surefire cinch to finish in the basement. Favoring that view are two disarming facts: there are 15 rookies on the roster and there is not a single hurler here owning as many as five lifetime National Series victories. But I am not so sure that the overlooked Hurricanes will actually be any worse off than the talent-poor Isla Pineros or always roster-thin Metropolitanos Warriors. Yes, pitching will be admittedly weak. But there are some talented veterans in the mix at Nelson Fernández Stadium. Ernesto Molinet (now established as a first baseman) showed well in his long-awaited shot at international competition with one of this summer’s national team pre-selection squads; versatile and scrappy backstop Danger Guerrero is still around to handle the novice pitching corps; a full dozen Habana Province veterans return and notable among the number are outfielder Denis Laza and shortstop Michael González. Mayabeque probably won’t match Aretmisa as an expansion club, but they may well have more overall talent than either of their closest rival also-rans, Metros and Isla de la Juventud.
This afterthought number two ball club from the capital city won its biggest victory before the season ever started – simply by reappearing like a Phoenix from the ashes. The sad sack Warriors managed by Luis Suárez always seem to have just about everything working against them – by far the poorest stadium, the worst fans, and the constant loss of top prospects to rival Industriales. In truth the Metros team has served for more than a decade as little more than a thinly disguised farm club for the more popular and successful Lions, training such future Industriales stars over the years as Germán Mesa, Alex Malleta, Carlos Tabares, Yasser Gómez, Yadel Martí, Frank Camilo Morejón, Yoandry Urgellés, Enríque Diaz, Stayler Hernández (this year returning to Metros), and dozens more. But there are still a few talent players here – most especially slugger Jorge Luis Barcelán, who knocked home an impressive 70 runners a year ago. Once again most of the fan interest surrounding Metros will involve the ongoing saga of popular veteran infielder Enríquecito Diaz, who will be returning for a remarkable twenty-sixth league campaign. In the end, however, the roster is just too thin to suggest much more than perhaps a very narrow escape from the league basement.
The handful of fans on Cuba’s most rural island outpost won’t have much to cheer about this time around. There is of course spunky Michel Enríquez, still locked in a tight race with retired Omar Linares for the prestigious title of Cuba’s lifetime batting leader. And there is always the continuing saga of ageless 26-season veteran hurler Carlos Yanes; but one .400 batter and one colorful pitcher renowned for losing as often as winning is hardly by itself much of a recipe for success. This has to be my own choice for the weakest overall ball club during this particular season, and also the one destined to drop the most games in either division. Veteran manager Armando Johnson will welcome ten rookies (second most after Mayabeque) to his roster and also owns a lineup that last year hit the fewest home runs and also stole the fewest bases. There is a trio of decent pitchers, however, in Wilber Pérez (9-7, 4.66 ERA), Luis Manuel Suárez (6-5, 3.10, and Danny Aguilera (3-6, 2.70, 15 saves). Of course all those totals would certainly have been significantly better with even a small upgrade in offensive support.
Oriental (Eastern) League
Little seems to have changed over the summer in the league’s eastern sector – outside of the fact that several of the division’s top aging lineups have gotten just a little older and the additional fact that Granma has suffered a huge roster gap with the defection of slugging star Yoenis Céspedes. Ciego de Avila is again favored by most pundits to come out on top, with Granma, Villa Clara and Guantánamo all offering rather stiff pursuit. Despite losing Céspedes, Granma still boasts almost as much slugging punch as does Sancti Spíritus out west. Guantánamo nonetheless could be the biggest surprise in this region, with a lineup that remains virtually the same as the one nipped at the wire a year ago. And the Villa Clara Orangemen still have sufficient manpower to remain every bit as dangerous down the stretch as they have been in several recent seasons. With veteran managers Roger Macado and Agusatin Lescaille, the Tigers and Indians would, however, seem to have the inside track this time around.
At long last this could well be Guantánamo’s much-awaited break-through year. Under veteran skipper Agustin Lescaille the Indians have come close of late, finishing only two games off the pace set by Ciego de Avila last winter and then dropping a bitterly contested playoff series with Granma that went the full seven contests. This veteran club offers substantial onfield leadership and lots of valuable balance in its attack; and it also has undergone the fewest roster changes of any outfit in either division. National teamer Giorvis Duvergel (.338, 15 HR, 53 RBI) and first baseman Yoennis Southerán (.350, 19, 65) pace an energetic offense that topped the circuit last winter in stolen bases. Danier Hinojosa (8-4, 3.56 ERA) is one of Cuba’s most durable and productive starters and is followed in the rotation by equally strong Frank Navarro (9-6, 3.72). In the bullpen young Alexander Rodríguez was often brilliant during 2010-2011 (8 wins, 10 saves, and a stellar 1.98 ERA) and this was one of only two eastern sector clubs with a composite sub-5.00 ERA (at 4.77). There may be just enough balance here this time around to knock both the inconsistent Tigers and aging Orangemen from the league’s top perch.
On paper at least this should be the division’s best ball club, perhaps even the best in the entire league. But Ciego seems like the eastern sector version of Sancti Spíritus – a ball club that perennially shines in the regular season and then stumbles when the playoffs roll around. Last year the Tigers owned the best record in the eastern pennant chase, rang up the best fielding percentage (.981) on the defensive side, and also allowed the fewest passed balls (thanks to unheralded catchers Lisdat Diaz and Osvaldo Vasquez). But the pitching has been tailing off of late for sometimes unaccountable reasons: southpaw ace Maikel Folch was inconsistent most of last season (8-4, 6.11 ERA) and mainstay Vladimir García (8-6, 5.56 ERA) didn’t seem to come alive until the latter stages of the post-season. There are of course plenty of plusses here, starting with Roger Machado who many would tap as the island’s most savvy manager. Young fly-chaser Rusney Castillo (.324, 18 HR, 79 RBI) could rival Alfredo Despaigne as the island’s top batsman this winter, and plenty of additional firepower is provided by Yoelivs Fiss, Yorelvis Charles, Isaac Martínez and flashy shortstop Yorbis Borroto (also one of the league’s most solid middle infielders). But in a tight three-way race the Tigers with their aging lineup may well come up just a bit short.
Alfredo Despaigne will obviously provide the heart of the Granma attack, but he will not go entirely unaided, even with the absence of the departed Yoenis Céspedes. Even the heavier Mizuno 200 sphere will not likely slow Despaigne’s chase of another 30-plus home run season, nor block his reclaiming of the long-ball title he lost last season only because of a month-long tour with a World Youth Congress delegation sent to South Africa. Despaigne is backed up by the hefty lumber of Yordanis Samón (.385, 21 HR, 76 RBI) and Urmaris Guerra (.379, 16, 72). One huge downside, however, is a porous defense which matched Las Tunas with a league-high 111 errors and the division’s worst overall defensive percentage (.968). Granma’s pitching was a pleasant surprise in last spring’s post-season but the mound corps nevertheless may in the end be this team’s true Achilles Heel. Veteran Ciro Silvino Licea has abandoned retirement plans and will be back for at least one more campaign, but promising hurler Manuel Vega has been lost to injury. One bright spot on the pitching side is national team bullpen newcomer Alberto Soto, but there is little doubt that this club (guided by rookie manager Indalecio Alejandrez) will definitely have to be carried largely by its potent offense.
It seems somewhat surprising that Villa Clara has remained near the top quite as long as they have. Two top managers – Victor Mesa and Eduardo Martin – have been lost in recent seasons; national team stalwart Ariel Pestano catches less and less during regular season action (serving mainly as a designated hitter, while Yulexis La Rosa handles most of the backstop duties); and once can’t-miss outfield prospect Ramón Lunar has never developed sufficiently to replace the loss of current big-leaguer Leonys Martin. There is nonetheless one excellent pitcher – Freddy Asiel Alvarez – who might own the best arm on the island, and Robelio Carrillo, Misal Sivierio, Luis Borroto, and Yosvany Pérez round out one of the deepest pitching staffs found anywhere in the league. Rookie manager Ramón Moré can also count on a balanced and experienced lineup featuring shortstop Aledmis Dias (a frequent national team candidate), first sacker Ariel Borrero, and outfielder Andy Zamora. But (like Santiago) this is definitely a team on the slide, due mainly to a rapidly aging roster. Manager Moré and numerous Villa Clara faithful can only hope there is enough firepower left to hang on to a post-season slot for a fourteenth consecutive season.
Las Tunas has been a pleasant surprise in recent campaigns and even twice clawed its way into the post-season at the tail end of the last decade (2007 and 2008). This is yet another eastern sector club saddled with an inexperienced rookie manager (Juan Miguel Gordo) and severe imbalance on both the offensive and defensive ends of their game. In the end the Woodcutters simply don’t boast enough firepower to reach the upper echelon of the division, but they are certainly a dangerous outfit nonetheless. In the hitting department few clubs boast a more potent trio in the middle of the order than giant first sacker Joan Carlos Pedroso (the circuit’s career home run leader across the first decade of the new century), shortstop Alexander Guerrero (.310, 22 HR, 66 RBI) and catcher Yosvani Alarcón (.368, 13 HR, 47 RBI); but the overall team batting average of .289 last season was still one of the lowest found in the Oriental League (edging out only Holguín and Villa Clara). Yoelkis Cruz (12-6, 3.70 ERA) is the club’s only truly elite hurler, and on defense side of the field the real shortcomings begin to show up. A shaky Las Tunas infield and slow-footed outfield posted an embarrassing 111 errors, tied (with Granma) for worst in the entire division.
The once-proud Santiago club has now fallen on hard times and the loss of manager Antonio Pacheco will likely only make matters worse yet. New skipper Alcides Sánchez (former director of the provincial youth team) does welcome back a collection of former all-stars and national team veterans including Alexei Bell, Héctor Olivera, Retilio Hurtado, Pedro Poll, Rolando Meriño and oft-sidelined hurler Dany Betancourt. Yet all except Olivera and possibly Bell are now considerably less potent, due mainly to the ravages of age and/or injury. Bell has bounced back strongly (especially during October’s World Cup and Pan American Games action) from the nagging back problems that slowed him last winter, and Olivera is as dangerous offensively (.318, 16 HR, 70 RBI in an off-year last season) as anyone on the island. But even if long-time staff ace Norge Vera returns from recently announced retirement (as now rumored), Vera is only a shadow of the dominant starter he once was. And there doesn’t seem to be much young pitching talent waiting in the wings.
The best thing that Camagüey has going for it this time around is the fact that Holguín resides in the same division. But even that may not be quite enough to avert a rare basement finish. The Potters do possess one of the circuit’s best arms in veteran right-hander Vicyohandri Odelín (9-6, 4.47 ERA, and also a solid performer out of the bullpen during the recent Panama World Cup). Yormani Socarras (19 saves, 2.00 ERA) was also one of the league’s top closers a year ago. And there are some promising returnees in the lineup – especially shortstop Alexander Ayala (.330, 16 HR, 72 RBI) and outfielder Dariel Alvarez (eighth best hitter in the league last winter at .363). Nonetheless it will likely be a long season for second-year manager Felipe Sarduy in the central province of Camagüey. Much of this team’s fortunes will depend on a healthy return of often-injured veteran southpaw hurler Elier Sánchez.
8. Holguín Dogs (Perros). The division’s worst club features yet another rookie manager (Felicio García) and a lineup almost completely devoid of experienced frontline ballplayers. The true soft spot here is some of the league’s worst pitching – there are only four returning hurlers who claimed at least four victories in NS#50, last season’s staff rang up the worst ERA (6.03) in the Oriental Division, and the team’s 384 free passes issued to the opposition were the most in the entire league. Perhaps Mayabeque with its own rookie-studded mound crops is the only club saddled with potential for thinner and less effective hurling. And poor pitching is supplemented with a truly anemic offense, an obvious deadly combination. One of the best hitters from last season was left fielder Edilse Silva (.335, 25 HR, 87 RBI) and Silva has now been returned to his native province to play for Santiago. Only first baseman Lerys Aguilera (with 23 round trippers two years back) boasts impressive offensive credentials among the thin corps of returnees.
There you have it. I see Cienfuegos and Sancti Spíritus as the most potent over in the west and Guantánamo and Ciego de Avila out front in the east. Let’s compare notes in April and see how it all works out. As always, “the field of play will determine the result.”
