Cuban baseball player Alfredo Despaigne signed a new contract in Havana to play three seasons with the Fukuoka Halcones club of Softbank, of the Japanese professional league, reported the Cuban Baseball Federation.
The star hitter Despaigne declared that he decided on that team because he has the aspiration to be champion in Japan, and with them the chances of reaching the title are greater.
«My great objective will be to maintain the performance I had last season with the Chiba Lote Marines; I do not know what time at bat I will occupy, but I feel prepared to take on this challenge in my sports career, “said the outstanding Cuban slugger.
Founded in 1938, the Fukuoka club of the Falcons of SoftBank, one of the most important franchises in the Japanese League, accumulates 17 League crowns and seven in local championship series.
Despaigne, fourth batter of the national team and champion with the Alazanes de Granma in the last National Series, will participate in the IV World Baseball Classic.
He fired the Chiba Lote Marines team with an offensive average of 280, connecting 139 hits in 496 at-bats and also hitting 24 home runs and driving in 92 runs in 134 games.
Previously, in 2013 and 2014, he was also hired by the Mexican professional team Piratas de Campeche.
The president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, Higinio Vélez, and the vice president of the Japanese club Fukuoka, Sugihiko Mikasa, attended the signing of the new contract for the Cuban baseball player.
In addition to Despaigne, pitcher Raidel Martínez, and outfielder Leonardo Urgellés, also signed their contracts with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese League this Friday.
Until September 2013, the island’s National Institute of Sports and Recreation (Inder) had restricted contracts abroad to its high-performance athletes, but a new policy approved by the Cuban government as of that date gave the green light to those conventions.
Cuban players sign contracts with professional clubs in Japan
