Cuba Willing to Let its Ballplayers Go to MLB

In a press conference on the game between the Cuba Team and the Tampa Bay Rays, Higinio Velez, chairman of the Cuban Baseball Federation, highlighted that the island nation is willing to let its baseball players go to the U.S.

Major Leagues with the same conditions of athletes from around the world, without refusing their citizenship in order to be hired by a U.S. franchise.

This could be one of the main results of the game between the Cuban team and the American professionals, which is going to symbolically seal the historic visit of President Barack Obama to Havana.

The U.S. team arrived in the capital on Sunday, in two flights that carried players, managers, executives, relatives and friends.

Over the past days, people have been talking about the possibility of seeing Obama pitch the first ball, but the rumor came to an end as it was officially announced that retired pitchers Pedro Luis Lazo and Luis Tiant are going to do it.

A refurbished Latin American Stadium will once again welcome northern baseball players, who are going to face a local team, so it’ll be red hot due to the controversies on mistakes and merits in each party.

Pitchers Lazo and Tiant (also born in Cuba) will be playing the leading role in a ceremony before the game, thus unleashing memories and dreams among players and enthusiasts.
Lazo, who holds the highest number of victories (257) in the Cuban league, won four Olympic medals (two gold medals and two silvers) with the national team.

On the other hand, Tiant pitched 19 seasons in MLB, where he wore the uniforms of the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

In a press conference given at Meliá Cohíba Hotel, in Havana, Higinio Velez, chairman of the Cuban Baseball Federation, described the historic challenge as a bridge to strengthen the bonds between Cuba and America, within the context of the current normalization process of relations between both nations.

Rob Manfred, commissioner of Major League, thanked the opportunity to contribute to tighten the relation between the Cuban and U.S. people by means of baseball, a passion for both countries.

On the possibility to sign an agreement on the legal insertion of Cuban players in the top U.S. baseball circuit, Manfred underscored that it’s a complicated matter and it’s being debated by both parties.

So far, according to the laws linked to the economic, trade and financial blockade imposed by Washington against the island nation, Cuban baseball players must leave behind their homeland and obtain the citizenship in a third country, in a bid to be hired by a MLB team.

On this respect, Higinio Velez highlighted that Cuba is willing to allow its players go to Major Leagues, under the same terms of athletes from the rest of the world, without putting their citizenship apart to get a contract with a U.S. franchise.

The chairman of the Cuban Baseball Federation underlined that, in an effort to join MLB, many Cuban baseball players have fallen in the hands of smugglers, who benefit from the talent cultivated by trainers on the island.

The American side was represented by Tony Clark, chairman of the Association of MLB Players, and Heriberto Suarez, national director discipline, spoke for Cuba.

After 17 years, a franchise from the top baseball circuit of America will be playing in Cuba, an extraordinary development that is going to be marked by the presence of U.S. President Barack Obama in the stadium.

The visit of the Tampa Bay Rays stands out as the second time a MLB team comes to Cuba since 1999, when the Baltimore Orioles played at the same stadium against the national team.