Rolando Viera, a member of the same Havana Industriales pitching staff that once heralded Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Adrian "Elduquecito" Hernandez, has defected and is working out in anticipation of showcasing his talents for major-league scouts, his agent announced Monday.
Viera, 27, left Havana in late April on a U.S. visa. He had lost his job with Industriales last year, before the recently completed 2000-01 season, when Cuban baseball officials suspected him of a desire to defect.
Viera, 5-foot-10 and left-handed, is a lesser-known quantity outside Cuba than either Hernandez, who both signed major-league contracts with the New York Yankees. Viera never traveled abroad with the Cuban national team, limiting his exposure to major-league scouts.
But his agent, Joe Kehoskie, said he expects Viera to draw interest from scouts because of the need for quality left-handed pitching.
"He's a classic, crafty Cuban pitcher," Kehoskie said. "In the current state of major league baseball, if you know how to keep the ball down and prevent the home run, that's helpful."
Viera is the fourth member of the powerhouse Industriales team, a favorite of Cuban President Fidel Castro's, to have defected since January 2000. Adrian Hernandez left that month, followed by infielder Evel Bastida and right-handed pitcher Maique Quintero in December.
Kehoskie said Viera is still getting back in shape after the year away from baseball. But on game tapes from the 1999 season, radar guns used by Cuban television show Viera throwing fastballs that were 89 to 92 mph -- more than respectable for a left-handed control pitcher.
Viera joined the powerhouse Industriales team in 1993 at age 20, when he was the youngest member on a staff that included El Duque and Lazaro Valle. He sat out most the 1994 and '95 seasons due to a bout of hepatitis. He returned to the team in 1996, pitching sparingly out of the bullpen with mixed success.
In 1998, he was 3-3 with a 1.66 ERA, best on staff among the nine pitchers used most reguarly by Industriales. In 1999, he moved full-time to the starting rotation, where he thrived, going 10-4 during with a 3.08 ERA. In 2000, his final season, he was 8-6 with a 3.16 ERA.
"He's 27, but that's not going to kill him," Kehoskie said. "Considering that he took off a couple seasons (due to illness) and is coming off a year when he was suspended, he's got more like a 23- to 24-year-old arm."
Kehoskie said Viera intends to seek free agency, rather than enter the June 5-6 draft.
Tom Farrey is a senior staff writer with ESPN.com. He can be reached at tom.farrey@espn.com.
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