MLB strikes landmark agreement with Cuba
Deal will allow Cuban players to be scouted, signed without defecting
Major League Baseball and the players association announced Wednesday that they reached an agreement with the Cuban government to allow players from the island to be scouted and signed by the league without having to defect.
The deal facilitates Cuban players’ entry into American professional baseball while avoiding the journeys and dealings with human smugglers that have marked many of their departures.
For decades, Cuban players have risked their lives and the possibility of jail time if caught by escaping from their homeland in furtive boat trips to destinations such as Mexico, Haiti or the Dominican Republic, where they could establish residency and pursue multimillion-dollar contracts.
All-Stars such as Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig and White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu made it out that way, though details of their escapes have been sketchy because of fear their relatives might face retribution.
In many instances, players such as Cespedes and Indians outfielder Leonys Martin have been the subject of monetary demands and even extortion from some of the people who helped them defect. Puig endured a harrowing ordeal leaving Cuba via Mexico in 2012 with assistance from human smugglers who later threatened to kill him, according to a 2014 lawsuit.
At the beginning of last season, 17 natives of Cuba were on major league rosters and disabled lists, the fourth-largest contingent of foreign-born players in the game. Abreu and Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman were picked for the All-Star Game.
“For years, Major League Baseball has been seeking to end the trafficking of baseball players from Cuba by criminal organizations by creating a safe and legal alternative for those players to sign with Major League Clubs,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We believe that this agreement accomplishes that objective.”
The proposal already has drawn fierce disagreement in the CubanAmerican community, which has grappled in recent years with former President Barack Obama’s historic rapprochement with the communist island and President Donald Trump’s moves to scale back that opening.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Florida, one of the strongest critics of Obama’s diplomatic and economic opening with Cuba, equated the MLB deal with “human trafficking” in a tweet Wednesday morning. He blasted the fees that U.S. franchises would have to pay the Cuban Baseball Federation, which is controlled by the Cuban government and would enrich the Communist regime. He called such payments “shameful” and called on Trump to halt the deal.
“Thankfully, (Trump) stands with the Cuban people in opposing tyranny and would not endorse such a blatant exploitation that benefits a malevolent, anti-American dictatorship,” Diaz-Balart wrote.
But Ric Herrero says that analysis misses the fact that the ones who would benefit the most from the MLB proposal are the Cuban people. Herrero, policy director of the Cuba Study Group, a collection of Cuban-American business leaders that advocates for a more open relationship with Cuba, described the fees paid to the Cuban Baseball Federation as a “collateral benefit” that is far outweighed by the benefits inferred on Cuban players, their families and their communities.
By implementing a formalized agreement, Herrero said the dangerous de- fections will be a thing of the past. He said the quality of life of the players’ families in Cuba will be dramatically improved. And on an island where the black market rules and Cubans must hide assets sent to them by relatives abroad, he said a legal system of creating wealth inside of Cuba would serve as a shining example of what’s possible and push Cubans to demand expanded access to similar avenues of capital.
“In order for a society to put itself on a path toward sustainable growth, it needs to allow for some degree of wealth creation. (The MLB deal) is now going to drive that conversation more than anything else,” Herrero said. “It brings the issue front and center in a crystal-clear way, because everyone understands that a Major League Baseball player gets paid enormous sums of money.”
MLB said the agreement stipulates the Cuban baseball federation must release all players under contract who are at least 25 and have at least six or more years of playing service.
It also has the option of releasing younger players to sign with major league clubs. The player might negotiate and sign with any major league club without leaving Cuba. The signing team will pay a posting fee to the Cuban federation, not unlike fees paid for players moving from Japan to MLB.
The player will receive a work visa that will enable him to travel to and from Cuba and the USA.
“It is good to know that players will not have take a risk or be in danger to try and get to the United States to play baseball,” White Sox infielder Yoan Moncada said in a statement released by MLB. “I am really happy and wish future players the best. I’ll be waiting for you in the big leagues.”