All-Cuba Team: Big Bats, Red Sox Ace Headline All-Time MLB Team

In honor of Hispanic & Latine Heritage Month, NESN takes a look at the best Major League Baseball players from Hispanic and Latin American nations. Today, we compile our picks for the all-time Cuban team.

Cuba is the birthplace of some of MLB’s best talent of the past and present. The nation sports 393 former and current players that have helped shape baseball history.

This roster consists of a full starting lineup, three starting pitchers and two relief pitchers.

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Here is the lineup.

C Yasmani Grandal
1B Rafael Palmeiro
2B Jose Iglesias
SS Leo Cárdenas
3B Yandy Díaz
LF Yordan Álvarez
CF Yoenis Céspedes
RF Adolis García
DH José Abreu

Bench:
OF Randy Arozarena
OF José Canseco
INF Minnie Miñoso

Grandal is an on-base machine. He has four seasons with an on-base percentage over .350 when playing 100 games and five seasons with 20 or more home runs.

Palmeiro dominated during his era, smacking 569 home runs in a 20-year career with four All-Star appearances and three Gold Glove awards. Iglesias and Cárdenas offer a complimentary middle infield while Diaz mans the hot corner with an improved career as the 2023 MLB batting champion (.330 batting average).

Céspedes offers plenty of power in both his bat and his arm. In the corner spots, clutch hits are plentiful. Álvarez and García combined for 20 career postseason home runs and went head-to-head with the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers in the 2023 American League Championship Series.

Abreu marked consistency for years in his time with the Astros and the Chicago White Sox, hitting 263 home runs along with honors from Rookie of the Year to American League MVP.

On the bench, Arozarena dominated the 2020 playoffs for the Tampa Bay Rays while Canseco took his power to seven different teams with 462 home runs. Miñoso stood out in his era, winning the 1947 World Series along with 13 All-Star appearances.

Here is the All-Cuba pitching staff.

SP Luis Tiant
SP José Fernández
SP Orlando Hernández
RP Aroldis Chapman
RP Yennier Canó

Tiant led the Boston Red Sox to a World Series appearance in 1975 and won 229 games as a three-time All-Star. Hernández constantly found himself pitching in October, winning three World Series rings with the New York Yankees

Fernandez was on his way to stardom with the Miami Marlins. He posted a sub-3.00 ERA in all four of his MLB seasons with two All-Star appearances. The Cuban right-hander died in a boating accident in 2016.

In the modern era, Chapman is the ultimate flamethrower with a fastball that consistently soars above 100 MPH and owns a pair of championships. Canó burst onto the scene in recent years with a 2.93 career ERA across three seasons with the Baltimore Orioles.