Several former Major League Baseball players will appear on the roster for Spain during the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Taipei, Taiwan, next month.
Multiple media reports indicated that players from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Cuba are on the Spain roster.
According to Pelota Cubana USA and Francys Romero, Cuba’s Odrisamer Despaigne, Yoanner Negrín, Elián Leyva, Pablo Guillén, Carlos Sierra, Orlando Rodríguez, Omar Hernández, and Orlando Lavandera are all on the roster for the WBC Qualifier, which begins on February 21 at the Taipei Dome. While Despaigne is the only Cuban player with MLB experience, the others all have experience in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, and several have played professionally outside Cuba.
Dominicans Elier Hernandez, Noelvi Marte, Engel Beltre, Ramon Rosso, and Rhiner Cruz are also expected to be on the roster, along with Venezuelan Luis Guillorme, who played the last seven seasons in MLB with the New York Mets, Angels, Atlanta Braves, and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Despaigne, a righty from Havana, appeared in 109 MLB games from 2014-19 with the San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels, and Chicago White Sox, posting a 5.11 ERA over 363 innings, striking out 224 and walking 130 with a WHIP of 1.449. He is currently playing in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, where he was the winning pitcher in game one of the LAMP championship series for the Tomateros de Culiacan, who added him as a reinforcement after the Yaquis de Obregon, his team in the regular season, was eliminated.
Guillorme, an infielder from Caracas, Venezuela, has appeared in 414 MLB games over the past seven years, but has only appeared in more than 100 games in one season — 2022, when he played 103 games for the Mets, batting .273/.351/.340 with a .692 OPS, two homers and 17 RBIs. He holds a career .251/.336/.322 batting line with five homers and 58 RBIs in 882 at-bats.
Hernandez, an outfielder from San Cristobal, D.R., appeared in 14 games with the Texas Rangers in 2022 and appeared in 54 games with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball in 2024, batting .294/.396/.453 with a .798 OPS, eight homers and 30 RBIs in Japan’s top league.