Yankees Sign Cuban Defector

March 6, 1998 / 10:05 PM EST / CBS/AP

Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, the former Cuban baseball star who defected two months ago, agreed Friday to a $6.6 million, four-year contract with the New York Yankees.

Hernandez, 28, turned down an offer from the Anaheim Angels thought to be worth about $5 million. The Angels' parent, The Walt Disney Co., reportedly offered a movie deal as part of the contract.

Hernandez' half-brother, Livan, already has found success in the United States. After defecting, he agreed to a $4,495,000, four-year contract with the Florida Marlins and went on to become the Most Valuable Player of both the NL playoffs and World Series last year.

Orlando Hernandez wasn't present Friday night when his agent Joe Cubas announced the deal at a Cuban restaurant in Miami. The pitcher was still in Costa Rica, where he has been training.

With interleague play, the two brothers may have the opportunity to face each other in June when the Marlins visit the Yankees for three games beginning June 5.

A star pitcher on Cuba's national team, Hernandez was banned from baseball in his homeland in October 1996, a year after his 22-year-old brother defected while on a team trip in Mexico.

Hernandez escaped Cuba on Dec. 26 with seven others on a small boat. The U.S. Coast Guard picked them up a few days later on a remote Bahamian island and handed them over to Bahamian authorities.

Hernandez was offered a U.S. visa, along with his common-law wife and Cuban catcher Alberto Hernandez, who is not related. But all except Hernandez's wife ended up in Costa Rica when U.S. authorities refused visas to the others in the group.

By going to Costa Rica, players became eligible for free agency. If they had settled in the United States, they would have been subject to a draft by major league clubs.

Livan Hernandez has said his half-brother "is 10 times better than I am."