For years, the Cuban pipeline into Major League Baseball has involved a bit of a seedy underbelly, but an agreement between MLB, its players’ association and the Cuban Baseball Federation plans to make for a cleaner process.
Cubans will be able to sign under a system similar to how Japanese and Korean players sign with MLB teams.
In MLB’s own press release, commissioner Rob Manfred didn’t mince words over the situation that had existed with Cuban players.
"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,” Manfred said.