Roberto Osuna stands up for Mexicans and blasts Donald Trump
Toronto Blue Jays reliever Roberto Osuna is one of over a dozen MLB players who call Mexico home, so naturally he has been fielding questions this spring training about Donald Trump.
The Republican presidential candidate claims that, if elected, he would build a wall on the Mexican border to keep Mexicans out of the United States. But Osuna said that like many Mexicans, he is not taking Trump's statements about the wall seriously.
Via the Toronto Sun:
"They (Mexicans) laugh about it,” Osuna told the Sun. “It’s silly to think he’s going to put up that wall. And we don’t care. If you get the Visa, you will cross to United States and you will do whatever you want to. We as Mexicans work so hard, and we don’t come here to do (anything illegal)."
Osuna also spoke out about misconceptions about Mexican immigrants and briefly discussed the prejudices many Mexicans face in America. Although Osuna was drafted by Toronto when he was 16 years old, he spent the majority of his minor league career playing for teams based in the United States. The now-21-year-old admitted to the Sun that he is still fearful of U.S. authorities while in the States.
"We are so scared about the police and all this stuff," Osuna told the Sun. "I’ve been in the United States for the last few years and I’m still feeling a little bit afraid to do something, you know what I mean? Like, I’m driving and I don’t want to go over the speed limit because I don’t know if I’m going to get in trouble. So obviously we don’t come to the United States to do what he says (cause trouble).”
But Osuna's main focus remains on baseball. The pitcher entered camp last season as a non-roster invitee and ended up making a name for himself as one of the best young closers in baseball, as he compiled 20 saves in 23 save opportunities for the Blue Jays in 2015. He will set out to prove his rookie season was not a fluke when he takes the mound for the Jays in 2016.
