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

Defection is Only Resort to Play in the Majors

Like or not, the ruling to nix the MLB Cuba deal will curtail Cuban players from making an impact in the major leagues. Team owners want to have immediate access to the best players in the world, but this ruling keeps Cuban players at an arm’s length away.

Unfortunately, it also nullifies any chance of watching these amazing athletes any time soon on American soil, which eliminates any chance of making the sport that much better.

The nixing of the deal will restrict major league teams from having greater access to Cuba’s talent pool. Now, it will be virtually impossible to scout and identify which players are ready to compete in the majors. Teams would be forced to make quick judgments on Cuban players by attending international tournaments or at private workouts after they have defected to a Latin American country.

The nixing of the MLB Cuba deal also allows Cuba to regain overwhelming control of their country’s baseball talent, but the threat of defection remains high for key members of the national team.

Under the proposed agreement, players could have left the island after two years of service for the CBF instead of the current standard of playing five-or-more years. Plus, players who tried to circumvent the system by defecting from Cuba would have faced sanctions that included being ineligible from that year’s international signing period.

With no agreement in place, all plans for having an open international talent pool for MLB franchises are out the door this summer. More importantly, the nixing of the MLB Cuba deal ends any chance of implementing a more accessible Cuban player transfer system any time soon.

Now, Cuban government officials will have the control to dictate which players are eligible to leave the island and play in the majors.