Cuban Pitcher to Stay in Bahamas

While living in Castro's Cuba, Orlando Hernandez learned some powerful capitalist lessons. Foremost among them: Keep your negotiating options open. So it is that even though the U.S. has granted the defecting baseball star -- and half-brother of Florida Marlins World Series hero Livan -- permission to enter the U.S., Orlando has declined to leave. Instead, he's remaining in the Bahamas in hopes of establishing residency, either there or some other country other than the U.S.. The payoff could be huge: If Hernandez is a U.S. resident, he would have to go through baseball's draft and negotiate a contract with the team that picks him; if he's a resident of a third country, teams are free to bid for his services. That's the route Livan took before signing a $4.5 million contract with the Marlins. Since Orlando reportedly an even better pitcher than his brother, the Series MVP, execs from deep-pocketed teams such as the Yankees will be on the first plane to Nassau the moment a deal is worked out.