MLB, Cuban Baseball Federation reach agreement that will eliminate need for players to defect

By Dave Sheinin December 19 at 4:00 PM

Major League Baseball on Wednesday reached a historic agreement with Cuba’s baseball federation, modeled after those with leagues in Japan and Korea, that will regulate and streamline the entry of Cuban players coming to the U.S., the league announced.

The agreement, the result of years of negotiations between MLB, the MLB Players Association, the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) and the U.S. government, is designed to end decades of fraught relations between MLB and Cuba and eliminate the need for Cuban players to defect. The new system won’t change how Cuban players are compensated by MLB teams, but will result in “release” fees being paid to the FCB for those players’ services.

Under the new system, Cuban players will be signed out of Cuba and, subject to U.S. government approval, granted a work visa. However, a State Department spokesman said that players will have to travel to a third country to apply for a visa, like other Cuban nationals, per current U.S. policy.

In MLB’s view, the move was motivated by humanitarian concerns to halt the influence of smugglers and traffickers who have preyed upon Cuban defectors in the past. Many top Cuban professionals, such as Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig — who left the island to come to the U.S. under the previous MLB rules requiring players to establish residency in another country — have endured harrowing episodes involving smugglers and human traffickers.

-snip-