Dayron Armando Varona Suarez (born February 24, 1988) is a Cuban former professional baseball outfielder.

Career

Suarez played for

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...

in the Cuban National Series (CNS) through 2013, while also playing for the Naranjas de Villa Clara in 2012. He was suspended from CNS play in November 2013 for an attempted

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

. He successfully defected from Cuba the next week and signed a minor league contract with the Rays in March 2015. The Rays assigned him to the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Class A-Advanced

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in May, and was promoted to the Montgomery Biscuits of the Class AA Southern League. During President Barack Obama's March 2016 visit to Cuba, Varona played for the Rays against the

Cuban national team Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

at the Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana. The Rays won the game, and Varona became the first Cuban defector to return to play in Cuba. He played for the

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...

of the Class AAA

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

in 2017. Varona was released by the Rays in 2017. On June 21, Varona signed with the York Revolution of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. He became a free agent after the 2017 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varona, Dayron Living people 1988 births Minor league baseball players Defecting Cuban baseball players Naranjas de Villa Clara players Charlotte Stone Crabs players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente outfielders Montgomery Biscuits players Durham Bulls players Criollos de Caguas players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Puerto Rico York Revolution players Ganaderos de Camaguey players Gigantes de Carolina (baseball) players Águilas del Zulia players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Baseball players from Havana