MLB Cuba Deal: Ramifications of Trump Administration Nixing Deal With CBF

Baseball is searching for ways to alleviate the pending ramifications of the Trump Administration nixing the MLB Cuba deal.

The MLB Cuba deal would have given Cuban players a clearer path to play professionally in the United States. This announcement came less than a week after the Cuban Baseball Federation (CBF) released the first names of players who would have been eligible to sign with major league teams in the next international signing period.

The agreement was designed in the same manner as MLB’s current working relationship with Japan and Korea’s baseball leagues. In both cases, a professional baseball player becomes eligible to sign with an MLB team if that franchise is willing to pay a percentage of the player’s contract as a release fee. Amateur Cuban players fall under the same guidelines as other international amateur free agents.

Many within the league office expected this action by the Trump Administration who objected to payments being made to the CBF, which they consider to be a government-run agency. This arrangement made the deal illegal because the Cuban government cannot profit from wages earned in the United States. Administration officials confirmed there wasn’t any plan of loosening those restrictions to allow MLB to work directly with the Cuban Baseball Federation.

The Commissioner’s office countered this claim by insisting they relied heavily on the interpretation of the U.S. Treasury Department before inserting the fee payment program into the agreement. They were assured this deal would not violate the government’s embargo sanctions against Cuba.