BAYAMO, Cuba — The Sancti Spíritus Roosters will face the Villa Clara Orangemen and the Ciego de Ávila Tigers will meet the Las Tunas Woodcutters as the Cuban National Series playoffs begin on Jan. 4. But none of Cuba’s best baseball players will be on the diamond.

“All the stars have gone,” said Mario Ojeda, 79, a fan and former catcher in the league. “How has baseball changed over the last decade? It’s like night and day.”

Cuba is hemorrhaging ballplayers: Over the last three years, more than 300 have left the country, some after arduous journeys in the hands of smugglers, most hoping to try their luck in the United States. There are now 25 players on Major League Baseball rosters who were born in Cuba.

On a proud island where baseball embodies national identity, this exodus has been a painful blow.

“It’s contradictory,” said Ismael Sené, a Cuban baseball historian. “We don’t like our players going. But on the other hand, we want them to triumph abroad because they are products of our system.”