Santo Domingo.- A source close to a major league baseball teamon Monday said Cuban brothers Yulieski and Lourdes Gourriel, who played for theircountry in the just-concluded Caribbean Series, have defected.
They said the brothers took advantage of their presence inthe Dominican Republic and left the hotel where they were lodged, the sourcesaid, according to the program Pasion Deportiva (Sports Passion).
Moreover, it said TheMiami Herald quoted a witness who, “saw the Gourriel brothers when they wentdown to the hotel lobby where the Cuban delegation was staying and got into ablack pickup truck, where the insignia of an armed force was visible.”
The latest defection would be the most sounded since Yulieski,31, is considered, along with Alfredo Despaigne, the two players with the mosttalent to play in the Majors.
The names of Yulieski and Lourdes emerged among the firstto benefit from a future agreement between Major Leagues and Cuba, which wouldprovide a legal and safe route for players of the island.