New Plan for Cuban Baseballers?

Viñales stadium, photo by Guillaume Baviere

The NYT is reporting that Major League Baseball has submitted a proposal to the U.S. Treasury Department in new bid to find a way for Cuban baseball players to play for teams in the United States.

Why the Treasury Department? Good question. It has to do with the embargo on American companies doing business with Cuba.

At present, the Cuban government takes a cut from Cuban players salaries earned overseas. And U.S. teams cannot, under the terms of the embargo, pay such fees to Cuba.

So how are Cuban players currently playing stateside? They’ve typically fled Cuba, established residency in a third country, and been recruited form there. For these players, there’s no need to pay the Cuban government. But, the route is not without dangers. Players “travel in the hands of smugglers and under other dangerous conditions” in order to reach a country where they can play without restrictions.

The MLB proposal would create a new, nonprofit, entity in Cuba with whom U.S. teams could legally contract. The stated goal is to find a safe way for Cubans to play in the United States without the problems of “smuggling, kidnapping, extortion and extreme danger.”

-KitJ