ANDRES VIGLUCCI
aviglucci@herald.com

Embarrassed by the attempted defection of baseball star Andy Morales, the Cuban government Thursday disparaged his talent and suggested his career was in decline, while an agent hired by the athlete's relatives in Miami said the ballplayer may explore legal ways of leaving the island.

Morales, meanwhile, arrived home in a small town outside Havana, apparently unscathed but with his personal and professional future very much in doubt. Morales was forcibly repatriated Wednesday by the U.S. Coast Guard after being stopped at sea with 30 other Cubans on board an alleged smuggler's speedboat.

Cuban officials insisted that Morales -- the highest-profile athlete turned back to Cuba by U.S. authorities -- would suffer no reprisals, even as a government TV commentator minimized his contributions to Cuban baseball.

Because Morales has no prior record, Cuban news anchor Reinaldo Taladrid said, ``as is always done in these cases, without any exception, he will return to his home. And I think that will be the end of that.''

But Gus Dominguez, a Los Angeles-based sports agent who has helped other Cuban athletes defect, ridiculed suggestions by Taladrid that Morales, 25, was washed up. Dominguez said the comments suggest that Morales will likely not play in Cuba again.

``This is a guy who is healthy and at the top of his career,'' said Dominguez, noting that Morales' batting average was a superb .370 the past two seasons -- statistics that, combined with his stellar slugging in an exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles last year, would make him a prime Major League prospect. ``Of course, now they don't want to give any validity to this kid.''

Morales had already been told he would not accompany the national team to the Olympic Games in Australia later this year, Dominguez said, because Cuban authorities feared he was planning to defect.

``I believe he is done as far as baseball in Cuba is concerned. He is definitely off the national team, but he was already off the national team,'' Dominguez said.

Morales spoke briefly to Dominguez about defecting during last year's exhibition game in Baltimore. But the agent said he was surprised to learn of Morales' attempt to enter the country illegally last week.

Dominguez said Morales' relatives in Miami have hired lawyers to find legal means of bringing the player to the United States. Under the Cuban accords, the U.S. government grants a minimum of 20,000 visas annually so island residents can emigrate legally.

The government's handling of Morales' case has outraged Cuban exiles and puzzled immigrant advocates, who say it appears to be the first time that U.S. authorities have repatriated a prominent Cuban athlete.

Other Cuban baseball players, most prominently half-brothers Orlando ``El Duque'' Hernandez and Livan Hernandez, have become Major League stars after leaving the island illegally. El Duque was banished from Cuban baseball after authorities began to suspect he wanted to follow his brother, who left first, to the United States.

Some advocates speculate that the Clinton administration doesn't want to upset its delicate relations with the Cuban government, and may also now feel less concern over criticism from Cuban Americans given the public backlash against the exiles in the wake of the Elián González saga.

``It is definitely unusual in a high-profile case like this,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami. ``You have to wonder what's going on. They have made exceptions to their policy before, and if they wanted to bring him here, they could have.''

Morales was repatriated on Wednesday after failing to persuade U.S. asylum officers that he would face political persecution if returned to Cuba. Under the accords that ended the 1995 Cuban rafter crisis, the Clinton administration has repatriated hundreds of Cubans stopped at sea while trying to come to the United States. Those who reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay and, under the Cuban Adjustment Act, can apply for permanent legal residency after a year.

On Thursday, Taladrid said the Americans handled Morales' case appropriately.

``They neither singled out Morales, nor did they grant him any special privileges other than those already given, and he was returned to Cuba like the rest of the illegal immigrants, as established in the accords,'' Taladrid said.

But the Cuban government used Morales' repatriation to blast the U.S. ``wet-foot/dry-foot'' policy, saying it encourages illegal smuggling of Cubans to the United States.

Under the treaties, U.S. diplomats in Cuba monitor the treatment of repatriated Cubans by the government, which has promised not to persecute them for leaving the island. U.S. officials say the Cubans, with some exceptions, have lived up to the agreement.

Dominguez said he hoped Cuban officials will not retaliate against Morales, who is married and has two children, or against his family: