Daily Headlines: January 11, 2010

Note: Over the weekend I returned from a family vacation to Colombia and I’m eager to resume regular blogging. Many thanks to my fellow contributors for their help during my three-week absence but also in the past few months. This blog would’ve been much worse off without their efforts. Also thanks to all of you who I hope will keep reading this blog as we strive to report and inform every day. We hope to keep moving forward in 2010!

* Cuba: Promising Cuban pitching prospect Aroldis Chapman has reportedly signed a multimillion-dollar contract with the Cincinnati Reds.

* Honduras: Is there really a Venezuelan-led plot to assassinate interim leader Roberto Micheletti or has he been hallucinating?

* Puerto Rico: Over 2000 public employees received an unwanted Three Kings Day gift from Gov. Luis Fortuño – they were laid off from their posts.

* Paraguay: President Fernando Lugo is recovering in hospital after undergoing prostate surgery on Friday.

Image – CBC
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, UPI, Xinhua, ABC News, CNN

Cuban pitching prospect defects

One of Cuba’s leading young pitchers has reportedly defected while visiting in the Netherlands.

Twenty-one-year-old Aroldis Chapman left the Cuban national team from a tournament set to begin today in Rotterdam. "I walked out easily, right through the hotel door, and I hopped into a car and left," Chapman said to cubaencuentro.com. The southpaw is currently in hiding but is expected to fly to Miami and soon sign with a Major League club.

Chapman went 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA in two games for Cuba during this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) but his massive potential will surely catch the attention of top Major League sides:

Chapman would be the most heralded defector since Jose Contreras, who left the national team in 2002 during a tournament in Mexico.

By several estimates, Chapman could garner a contract worth anywhere from $30 million to $60 million. Contreras, now with the Chicago White Sox, received a four-year, $32 million contract from the New York Yankees in 2003, which at the time was the biggest ever given to a Cuban defector.

"Without a doubt [he is the best player to defect since Contreras]," agent Jaime Torres said Thursday.

Last December two of Chapman’s WBC teammates- Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez- defected from Cuba.

Image- daylife.com
Online Sources- Havana Times, Riptide2.0, ESPN, MLB.com, The Latin Americanist