Despite the improving relations between the U.S. and Cuba, it's still not a fluid process for a Cuban player to sign with an MLB club. Due to baseball's ever-growing interest in Cuba's talent, the MLB hopes to make it easier for Cubans looking to fulfill their dream of playing baseball in the U.S.
The U.S. still has an embargo on Cuba, which was enacted during the Cold War-era, so Cuban players who wish to play in the U.S. must leave the country and establish residency elsewhere, or, of course, enter the U.S. illegally, as many players have in the past.
As a result, the MLB has submitted a new proposal to the Department of Treasury that could allow Cuban baseball players to sign directly with MLB clubs and bypass the long and arduous clearance process that ends with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The OFAC will review the league's new plan.
Dan Halem, the MLB's top lawyer, told the New York Times that if the proposal is approved, an "entity" of Cuban entrepreneurs and MLB/MLBPA officials would be created in order to streamline the process of signing Cuban players. Additionally, the entity would take a percentage of the Cuban players' salaries and use that money to support youth baseball, education and sports facilities in Cuba.
OFAC officials declined to comment due to confidentiality issues.
Halem also said that the concept was informally discussed with Cuban officials, although it's unclear at this point what the Cuban government's stance is on the whole issue.
In recent years, Cuban prospects and pros have defected from the island and established residency in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Mexico and other neighboring countries in order to be recognized by the U.S. government. Others such as Yasiel Puig and Leonys Martin were smuggled into the U.S. before landing contracts.
Additionally, this new proposal would prevent Cuban prospects from getting involved with investors, or "buscons," in the countries they defect to. We saw a problematic case involving one top Cuban prospect, Lazaro Armenteros, in which his buscon threatened the life of Armenteros' agent in the U.S. That agency dropped the prospect due to the threat, and it certainly hamstrung Armenteros, considering that the agency had secured a spring training invite from an MLB team for him.
The good news is that the MLB will play a spring training game in Cuba in a few weeks when the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Cuban National Team. President Barack Obama will be in attendance, which will send a significant message in terms of the improving relations between the two nations.
