 Martí was originally slated to play in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, but he and Yasser Gómez were kicked off the team in November 2008 for an unspecified reason, believed to be an attempted defection to the United States.Marti, Gómez and Juan Yasser Serrano reportedly defected from Cuba in December 2008 in an effort to get to the Dominican Republic to seek a Major League Baseball career.In August 2009, they were declared free agents.