by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–Rusney Castillo, the most recent Cuban import made his debut with the Red Sox a few days ago, now Yoenis Cespedes who had an interpreter in Oakland, has a buddy playing together with him from his homeland, Cuba in Boston. Some teams seem to win only when they hit home runs, because they can’t generate enough offense with good speed. Castillo brings that other dimension to the Red Sox. Castillo is well known for his speed and excitement type of game, and in Boston where fans are “all in” every year, finish first and winning the World Series or finish last, that is something that Luis Tiant appreciates; “es buenisimo” “is very good”.

Cuban players are in vogue today, it has become the fashionable thing for teams to sign Cuban players. Of the new wave of Cuban players of recent years, only one, Yoenis Cespedes has been traded. Aroldis Chapman has become a fixture in the Reds bullpen in Cincinnati with his 103 miles per hour fastball, and he can close games with the best of them, has saved 33 games on a team 3 games away from the cellar.

Yasiel Puig is a sensation in Hollywood with the Dodgers, with more experience he should be a great player, he is already and he has not completed two seasons yet. In the American League playing first base for the Chicago White Sox, Jose Abreu is in the Top Five in the league in home runs and runs batted in; his style reminds me a lot of his compatriot and former Cincinnati Red Hall of Famer Tony Perez, they both can hit long deep home runs, a lot of those up-the-middle to center field. There are two sure things in the American League this season, Mike Trout of the LA Angels is the MVP and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox is the Rookie of the Year. The Red Sox are re-loading (there is no “rebuilding”in Beantown) for 2015 in that very fluid American League East, they will be a force again.

Expect the Red Sox to be back competing in 2015, and with Castillo and Cespedes, and the ageless Big Papi David Ortiz, plus a couple of trades in the off-season, there should be enough excitement for the Red Sox Nation in the near future.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for Los Angeles Angels baseball and does News and Commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com