MLB News: Cuban National Team To Welcome Expats To Play Against Tampa Bay Rays

In the latest MLB news, the Cuban and American governments are working to improve their relationship, particularly in baseball. There are reports that the Cuban national team will welcome back former players who left the country to start a career in MLB.

CBS Sports writes that Cuba has been a dominant force in international baseball, having won three of five Olympic gold medals since 1992. In the 2006 WBC Championship Game, Japan won over Cuba. In the 2009 WBC and 2013 WBC, Cuba was in sixth and fifth place, respectively. The country is also the place of origin of several notable names in the MLB like YulieskiGurriel, Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, Livan Hernandez, Jose Contreras and Orlando Hernandez. Now, Cuba is planning to re-establish its position by welcoming expatriates to play for the Cuban National Team.

According to Cuban baseball commissioner Heriberto Suarez, they are open to many ideas. He said that any similar arrangement should be included in a new overall working deal between the U.S. and Cuban governments, MLB and MLB Players Association. According to MLB news, the league has been collaborating closely with both governments to allow players to leave Cuba legally and play in the MLB. An official agreement has yet to be set up, but the parties involved are exerting efforts to realize it,

Fox Sports writes that for an agreement to happen, the Cuban government, or an alternate Cuban entity, should receive a type of “release fee” for the country to allow players to sign MLB contracts without the need to renounce their citizenship. CBS Sports state that the same arrangement has been done in getting players from Japan and Korea. MLB seems to be amenable to the plan, although the current U.S. embargo against Cuba disallows it. The embargo prohibits U.S. money from being forwarded to the Cuban government.

In other MLB news, according to Fox Sports, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred stated that a new agreement on Cuban player movement will potentially be finalized through the next collective bargaining agreement. Early talks are now happening between MLB and MLBPA.

Recently, it was revealed that the Tampa Bay Rays visited Cuba to play against the Cuban National Team at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana on March 29. It was the first time in 17 years that an MLB team traveled to Cuba for an exhibition match. Hopefully, future MLB news would announce that an agreement has been reached by the parties just in time for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.