Image copyright Reuters Image caption Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has spoken out about being held captive by human traffickers on the way to the US from Cuba

US Major League Baseball (MLB) and Cuba's Baseball Federation have reached a deal to let Cuban players sign with US teams despite diplomatic tensions.

Eligible Cuban players can now join MLB teams without defecting from the communist-run nation, in a deal similar to those with Asian leagues.

The MLB has also agreed to pay Cuba's Federation a percentage of signing bonuses that Cuban players receive.

Officials say they hope the deal will end player trafficking from Cuba.

Under the new agreement, Cuban baseball players over age 25, who have played in Cuban leagues for six years, are free to leave and sign with MLB teams, according to US media.

If a player defects from Cuba, which traditionally produces some of the best players in the world, they will have to wait one to two years before playing for a US team.

The Washington Post reported that the deal required "extensive" discussions between MLB and the Trump administration, given the US embargo against Cuba and the president's more recent rollback of Obama-era deals.

Cuban players will have to obtain work visas approved by the US Department of State.

The deal is in effect until 31 October, 2021. The International Chamber of Commerce will handle any disputes between the leagues.

Until now, Cuban players who wanted to sign with US teams had to defect and leave the country illegally.

As a result, for decades many Cuban players suffered kidnapping and extortion from traffickers - some with ties to drug cartels - on their way to the US.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Baseball is one of Cuba's most popular sports

In 2014, Los Angeles Magazine revealed how Dodgers' star Yasiel Puig had been smuggled to the US in dangerous conditions and held captive by traffickers, underscoring the severity of the issue.

During Fidel Castro's presidency, Cubans who defected to the US to play in the MLB were banned from ever returning.

Now, players can return to Cuba in the offseason if it is approved by their MLB club.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement on Wednesday that MLB "has been seeking to end the trafficking of baseball players from Cuba by criminal organisations" for years, the Associated Press reported.

The deal now offers "a safe and legal alternative".

And, according to AP, the agreement could spell much-needed income for the Cuban baseball federation: the most recent signing bonus for Cuban player in the MLB was nearly $1m (£792,000).

The early defector

Over 200 Cubans have played for Major League Baseball (MLB) teams since the 1870 - around half of them officially defected to the United States. The story of René Arocha became a renowned case in 1991.

Arocha played for Cuba's national team for 10 years before defecting while in the US for a tournament. The decision meant he had to leave his wife and daughter behind in Cuba.

He became a pitcher with the St Louis Cardinals, but his major league career was troubled by injuries and exhaustion. He played just one season with the Cardinals and spent the remainder of his career playing for minor league teams.</s>Cuban baseball players no longer have to risk their lives if they want to become stars in the U.S. major leagues.

Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation signed a historic deal Wednesday allowing Cuban players to come to the United States without having to defect or place their lives in the hands of criminal human traffickers.

“We believe this agreement accomplishes that objective and will allow the next generation of Cuban players to pursue their dream without enduring many of the hardships experienced by current and former Cuban players who have played Major League Baseball,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday.

Under the deal, Cuban players who are at least 25 years old and have played in the Cuban Leagues for six seasons can negotiate with a U.S. team. Other players would need special permission.

Major League Baseball would pay a release fee to the Cuban federation for every player it signs.

Unlike in the past, Cuban players would be allowed to return home without fear of arrest or persecution and could spend their U.S. salaries any way they see fit.

The Cuban federation said Wednesday’s agreement lets players play baseball “without discrimination, in equal terms, in the MLB without being compelled to break their ties of any kind with their country.”

Cuban-born superstar Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox, who defected to the U.S. in 2013, said, “Words cannot fully express my heartfelt joy and excitement. Knowing that the next generation of Cuban baseball players will not endure the unimaginable fate of past Cuban players is the realization of an impossible dream for all of us.”</s>(Bloomberg) -- Cuba celebrated a game changing agreement with Major League Baseball that will give Cuban baseball players a legal path to sign with teams in the U.S.

“It’s a historic day,” Cuba’s ambassador to the U.S., Jose Ramon Cabanas, said in a post on his Twitter account, adding that the agreement showed the two countries could reach “meaningful deals” when they “negotiate as equals with respect.”

The Cuban Baseball Federation, or FCB, will become the fourth foreign professional baseball league to enter into a similar agreement, joining Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the Korea Baseball Organization and the Chinese Professional Baseball League, Major League Baseball said in an emailed statement. The FCB will be paid a release fee by any Major League Club that signs a Cuban player under the terms of the new agreement.

“The objective of the agreement, which is the product of years of negotiations with the FCB, is to end the dangerous trafficking of Cuban players who desire to play professional baseball in the United States, a practice that has been documented in legal proceedings and media reports, and which has caused significant hardship to Cuban players and their families,” MLB said in the statement.

Traditionally, elite Cuban players looking to sign with Major League Baseball teams had to first defect from Cuba and find their way to U.S. soil, and that path was often dangerous.

Cleveland Indians outfielder Leonys Martin was kidnapped in Mexico on his way to the U.S. Chicago White Sox All-Star Jose Abreu tore up his fake passport and ate it on his flight to the United States. Other players have similar stories.

“Knowing that the next generation of Cuban baseball players will not endure the unimaginable fate of past Cuban players is the realization of an impossible dream for all of us,” Abreu said in the MLB statement. “Dealing with the exploitation of smugglers and unscrupulous agencies will finally come to an end for the Cuban baseball player.”

Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, praised the deal and said it served as recognition of the country’s excellence in the sport promoted by its former leader Fidel Castro.

“Finally we’ll have good baseball without human trafficking,” she wrote in a post on her Twitter account.

“@MLB ‘s deal with the Cuban Baseball Federation is a huge win for Cuban baseball players, their families and fans in both countries,” Carlos Gutierrez, the former Kellogg Co. chief executive who served as Commerce secretary under President George W. Bush, tweeted from his account where he identifies himself as a “proud American of Cuban heritage.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Maria Jose Valero in New York at mvalero3@bloomberg.net;Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Clementine Fletcher at cfletcher5@bloomberg.net, Nathan Crooks, Rita Devlin Marier</s>On Tuesday, Francys Romero of CiberCuba reported that Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) reached an agreement on a posting system that would allow players to join the league without having to emigrate. An official announcement by the MLB and MLB Players Association was made on Wednesday.

Players who came from Cuba to the U.S. will be unaffected by the new agreement. The FCB will have to release all of their players who are at least 25 years old and have at least six years of playing experience, giving them the opportunity to come play for Major League Baseball. FCB can also release younger players to allow them a similar opportunity.

This is a big deal for all parties involved: Cuban baseball players, the country of Cuba, and Major League Baseball. Most importantly, this opens up a safe way for Cuban players to enter the U.S. to play Major League Baseball. We have heard some horror stories in the past of what Cuban players had to go through to reach the U.S. There was also a significant amount of human trafficking involved, largely being done by drug cartels.

For example, in 2014, the smugglers who helped Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig leave Cuba made threats against him for his money. Puig initially went from Cuba to Mexico to establish a residence, allowing him to go through the free agency process rather than being subjected to the draft if he had gone directly from Cuba to the U.S. The process made Puig vulnerable and he was forced to become involved with some shady people, to say the least.

The late José Fernández and his mother tried four times to reach the U.S. by boat from Cuba and failed the first three times. On the fourth try, they went to Mexico by boat. During the journey, a wave caused one of the members to go overboard — Fernández’s mother. He jumped into the water to save her. Thankfully, they survived the trip and Fernández eventually gained entry into the U.S.

That Cuban players will no longer have to go to such great lengths to come to the U.S. is terrific. They will also get the chance to make good money and improve their living conditions, both here and back home for their families. The talent level of Major League Baseball will increase, which can only be a good thing as well. All in all, this is great news.</s>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major League Baseball has reached an agreement with Cuba’s Baseball Federation allowing Cuban players to sign with U.S. teams without needing to defect, MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem told Reuters on Wednesday.

Under the deal, which marks a ray of light in fraught U.S.-Cuban relations, MLB teams will pay the Cuban Baseball Federation a percentage of the bonus awarded to a Cuban player, Halem said.

Cuban players older than age 25 or with six years of service in Cuban leagues will be free to sign with MLB teams, he added. Other players will have to seek permission first. If they defect they will need to face a waiting period of one to two years.

In the past, many Cuban players seeking riches in the big leagues have defected and undertaken dangerous journeys via human traffickers. In Cuba the basic salary for players is $50 per month.

“Our primary objective in this agreement is to provide players from Cuba a path to the major leagues without having to endure the hardships many of our players have already experienced,” Halem told Reuters.</s>Major League Baseball, its players and Cuba strike deal allowing Cubans to sign with big league teams without defecting

HAVANA (AP) — Major League Baseball, its players and Cuba strike deal allowing Cubans to sign with big league teams without defecting.</s>Major League Baseball and the sport's governing body in Cuba struck a historic deal on Wednesday, allowing players from the island to play in the big leagues without having to defect, officials said.

The initial deal will run through Oct. 31, 2021, and will allow Cuban players to sign under rules similar to those for players coming from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, MLB and the Cuban Baseball Federation announced.

"Establishing a safe, legal process for entry to our system is the most important step we can take to ending the exploitation and endangerment of Cuban players who pursue careers in Major League Baseball," said Tony Clark, executive director for the MLB players' union in a statement.

Under the agreement, Cuban players who are at least 25 and have played six years in that country's domestic league will be free to sign with an MLB team that will pay a "release fee" to the Cuban club, according to the federation.

"The contract will contribute to stopping illegal activities like human trafficking that for years have put the physical integrity and life of many talented young Cuban baseball players at risk," the Cuban federation said, adding that it took three years to negotiate the deal.

A player who doesn't meet the experience criteria could still come to North America and sign a minor league deal, the Cuban side said.

“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,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We believe that this agreement accomplishes that objective and will allow the next generation of Cuban players to pursue their dream without enduring many of the hardships experienced by current and former Cuban players who have played Major League Baseball,” he said.

The Cuban federation and an MLB representative both said the U.S. Department of Treasury has signed off on this deal.

Without such a deal, the only way players from the impoverished, baseball-loving island could play in the big leagues was to defect — which could be a shady, often dangerous journey involving traffickers and criminals.

For example, a Miami jury last year convicted a Florida sports agent and a baseball trainer on charges related to their Cuban smuggling ring.

Baseball players testified at the trial of Bartolo Hernandez and Julio Estrada, describing the perils of defecting from Cuba.

Then-Seattle Mariners outfielder Leonys Martin told jurors he narrowly escaped from crowbar-wielding kidnappers in Mexico before walking across the U.S. border in Laredo, Texas. Martin has made more than $26 million in his eight-year pro career.

Some of the most notable Cuban defectors to play Major League Baseball include Livan Hernandez (1996-2012), his brother Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez (1998-2007), Yoenis Cespedes (2012-present), Yasiel Puig (2013-present) and Aroldis Chapman (2010-present).</s>HAVANA (AP) — Major League Baseball, its players and Cuba strike deal allowing Cubans to sign with big league teams without defecting.</s>Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation reached an agreement Wednesday on a deal that would allow Cuban baseball players to play in America without having to defect and be smuggled into the United States. From MLB.com:

Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. said: “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. We believe that this agreement accomplishes that objective and will allow the next generation of Cuban players to pursue their dream without enduring many of the hardships experienced by current and former Cuban players who have played Major League Baseball.”

Under the arrangement, Cuban players in the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) are broken down into two categories: FCB Professionals, and FCB Amateurs. FCB Professionals are at least 25 years old and have played at least six seasons with FCB, while FCB Amateurs are, basically, everyone else. The arrangement says the FCB must release all FCB Professionals who want to sign with MLB clubs. There are some tedious obstacles, having to do with the usual hassles of ridiculous U.S.-Cuba diplomacy—a State Department spokesperson told The Washington Post that Cuban players will still have to travel to a third country in order to apply for a required U.S. work visa, like all other Cuban nationals.

But the deal has some obvious limitations. Yasiel Puig, for example, was 18 years old when he first started trying to defect from Cuba in order to pursue a baseball career stateside, and was 21 years old when he finally pulled it off and signed with the Dodgers in 2012. Aroldis Chapman was punished for a defection attempt when he was 19, and was already pitching in the majors when he was 22 years old. The point is, if you can make millions of dollars to play baseball in the best league in the world as a 20-year-old, being told that you will only be free to sign with a major league team after your 25th birthday is at least a little bit of a bummer.



The deal addresses this concern, but in a way that still disadvantages young Cuban players who don’t feel like signing over years of their life to a form of compulsory service. FCB can choose to release players who haven’t met the age and service requirements, and MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem explained to the Miami Herald that defectors can still make their way to MLB, but only in a way that is designed to be less desirable than just sticking in FCB for a few more seasons:

If a Cuban player under 25 years chooses to defect in the future, such a player could still sign with an MLB team but would be subject to a waiting period of one to two years. “This is designed to discourage smuggling. Smugglers want to be paid right way,” Halem said.



Similar agreements with Nippon Professional Baseball, the Korea Baseball Organization, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League also have age restrictions, but MLB has reportedly been “wary of entering into an agreement that would seemingly trap young players” under an authoritarian government. The waiting period in the FCB agreement is reportedly designed to address that concern, by providing disincentive for defection but also making it possible for players who do defect to eventually make their way into their desired profession. Release fees that would go to FCB—between 15% and 20% of the total guaranteed value for Major League contracts, and 25% of the signing bonus for Minor League contracts, per the deal—will presumably help grease the skids for FCB Amateurs who seek permission to make the move to MLB ahead of meeting the service requirements for mandatory release. I guess we’ll see how that works.

The whole thing is reportedly still subject to State Department approval. The Post reported that the State Department says it is “aware” of an agreement between MLB and FCB; the New York Times describes the necessary approval of the U.S. government as “far-from-certain.” This deal isn’t perfect, but it beats the hell out of Cuban teenagers being stashed on far flung islands by international criminal organizations and held for hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom.</s>In an effort to eliminate the dangerous human trafficking that had gone on for decades, Major League Baseball, its players' association and the Cuban Baseball Federation reached an agreement Wednesday that will allow players from the island to sign big league contracts without defecting.

The deal serves as a respite during a time of tensions between the island nation and the Trump administration, which has pledged to undo President Barack Obama's 2014 effort to improve relations between the two countries.

The Washington Post reported late Wednesday that the Trump administration felt the agreement 'would institutionalize a system by which a Cuban body garnishes the wages of hard-working athletes who simply seek to live and compete in a free society.

'Parties seeking to benefit from business opportunities in Cuba are on notice that the Administration will continue to take actions to support human rights and restrict the Cuban regime’s ability to profit from U.S. business,' a senior administration official told the Post.

The agreement, which runs through October 31, 2021, allows Cubans to sign under rules similar to those for players under contract to clubs in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

'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,' baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement Wednesday.

'We believe that this agreement accomplishes that objective and will allow the next generation of Cuban players to pursue their dream without enduring many of the hardships experienced by current and former Cuban players who have played Major League Baseball.'

Depending on the quality of future players, the agreement could mean millions of dollars in future income for the cash-poor Cuban federation, which has seen the quality of players and facilities decline in recent years as talent went overseas.

MLB said the deal was allowed by amendments to the Cuban Asset Control Regulations of March 16, 2016, that established the provisions of a general license from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The league said OFAC confirmed to Major League Baseball in a letter dated September 20, 2016, that an agreement with the Cuban federation would be valid.

'Baseball has always been a bridge between our two nations, facilitating people-to-people connections and larger agreements that have brought our countries closer together,' said Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

Any disputes between MLB and the Cuban federation are subject to resolution by the International Chamber of Commerce.

'Establishing a safe, legal process for entry to our system is the most important step we can take to ending the exploitation and endangerment of Cuban players who pursue careers in Major League Baseball,' union head Tony Clark said in a statement. 'The safety and well-being of these young men remains our primary concern.'

Only players under contract to the Cuban federation are covered by the agreement, and the Cuban federation agreed to release all players 25 and older with at least six years of professional experience. They would be classified as international professionals under MLB's labor contract with the players' association and not subject to international amateur signing bonus pools.

The Cuban federation may at its discretion release younger players to sign minor league contracts with MLB organizations.

A player can decide whether he wants a registered MLBPA agent to negotiate a major league contract. He may use a representative other than an agent to negotiate a minor league deal.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, called it a 'homerun agreement,' tweeting 'This deal will make life better for Cuban baseball players, who will no longer have to risk unsafe passage to the U.S.'

Players have told stories of harrowing crossings on rafts and rickety boats - some later challenged as exaggerations.

'Today is a day that I am extremely happy,' said a statement from Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, who was smuggled out of Cuba by traffickers linked to a Mexican drug gang, according to court testimony. 'To know future Cuban players will not have to go through what we went through makes me so happy.'

Cuban-born players have a long history in the major leaguers, led by Minnie Minoso with nine All-Star selections, Tony Oliva with eight and Camilo Pascual and Tony Perez with seven each. And while Puig, Orlando and Livan Hernandez, Aroldis Chapman and others became stars in recent decades, others have been big-money busts. Outfielder Rusney Castillo agreed to a $72.5 million, seven-year contract with Boston in 2014 and has appeared in just 99 games with the Red Sox while playing 347 in the minor leagues.

'Words cannot fully express my heartfelt joy,' Chicago White Sox All-Star first baseman Jose Abreu said in a statement. 'Dealing with the exploitation of smugglers and unscrupulous agencies will finally come to an end for the Cuban baseball player. To this date, I am still harassed.'

Any players allowed to sign with big league clubs can do so without leaving Cuba, and the fee paid by the signing team will be covered by the same rules as in MLB's other posting systems: 20 percent of the first $25 million of a major league contract, 17.5 percent of the next $25 million and 15 percent of any amount over $50 million. There will be a supplemental fee of 15 percent of any earned bonuses, salary escalators and exercised options.

For minor league contracts, the fee will be 25 percent of the signing bonus, and there will be a supplemental fee for any foreign professionals who at first agree to minor league deals that include major league terms that later come into force.

A former Cuban federation player under contract to a MLB club may return to Cuba during the offseason. He can play in Cuba during the offseason only with his MLB club's consent.

Cuban players will need the consent of a series of sports officials in the country before the Cuban Baseball Federation agrees to release them, according to the organization's president, Higinio Velez. He described the new system as a way of protecting the quality of Cuban baseball while allowing players to head to MLB without resorting to traffickers or breaking ties with their country.

Addressing young players' families, he said, 'This is the legal path, the secure path that we've always dreamed of for their children.'

'Today's contract gives the Cuban player a secure life, a tranquil one, of being able to play in Cuba, be signed by any team in the major leagues, to be able to return, to be with their family, travel with their family, to come and go legally any time they want,' he said.

The departure of young Cuban players to MLB has slowed since limits were placed on signing bonuses for international amateurs starting July 2, 2017.

For 2017-18, outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez got $2.8 million from Texas, and the only other signing bonus over $300,000 for a Cuban-born amateur was $750,000 for shortstop Eddy Diaz (Colorado).

In the current signing period that started July 2, the largest signing bonus for a Cuban-born amateur has been $975,000 for outfielder Jairo Pomares with San Francisco.

THE PERILOUS JOURNEY FROM CUBA TO THE MAJOR LEAGUES Such a deal would have been virtually impossible under the U.S.-Cuban relations of the Cold War, when diplomatic relations were severed and the United States imposed a strict economic embargo on the island country 90 miles (145 km) from Florida. In the past, many Cuban players seeking riches in the big leagues have made dangerous journeys via human traffickers to defect. Others abandoned the Cuban national team while traveling abroad. More than 350 Cuban ballplayers have defected since the start of 2014, including more than 170 in 2015 alone, according to Cuban journalist Francys Romero. Some of the biggest stars in MLB have undertaken such treks, including Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets and Jose Dariel Abreu of the Chicago White Sox - all of whom have signed multiyear, multimillion-dollar contracts. Omar Linares, former Cuban baseball and considered one of the best baseball players of all time, talks to the media at the end of a press conference in Havana, Cuba The mininum salary for players in Cuba is $50 per month, so the payoff was huge for the stars. But many of the Cuban defectors have languished in the minor leagues or were released. Players who defected had to wait eight years before they could return to Cuba for a visit and gave up any hope of playing for Cuba's national team. 'Knowing that the next generation of Cuban baseball players will not endure the unimaginable fate of past Cuban players is the realization of an impossible dream for all of us,' Abreu said in a statement released by MLB. 'Dealing with the exploitation of smugglers and unscrupulous agencies will finally come to an end for the Cuban baseball player. To this date, I am still harassed.' Yasiel Puig was smuggled out of Cuba by traffickers linked to a Mexican drug gang Negotiations on the baseball deal began after former presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro agreed to restore diplomatic relations in 2014 and end five decades of enmity. Trade and travel restrictions were eased, even though the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba remains in place. President Donald Trump reversed part of the opening to Cuba upon taking office in 2017, but the baseball talks were allowed to move forward under a 2016 decision by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) before Obama left office. OFAC determined that MLB teams were allowed to transfer money to the Cuban Baseball Federation because it was not a government agency, Halem said. 'Huge deal. We spent the end of the Obama administration trying to set the conditions to make this possible,' Ben Rhodes, a former Obama aide who negotiated much of the bilateral detente, said on Twitter, adding: 'At a time of political division baseball is something that can bring Americans and Cubans together.'
Cuba's baseball federation and Major League Baseball reach a deal that will allow Cuban players to compete in the USA without defecting.