Will this hurt their future or families in Cuba? I mean, how can they even pretend to be good Communists, if they intend to earn millions in America playing baseball???
Or does Cuba have their own ulterior motives? For example, will Cuba heavily tax their earnings in America, giving the Cuban government badly needed foreign currency?
from the USA Today (12-17-2014):
‘...41-year-old Eliezer Lazo was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle 1,000 Cubans, including baseball players such as Texas Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin.
In that case, court documents detailed how Cuban human smuggling ventures through Mexico must pay fees and tribute to cocaine trafficking cartels, such as the Zetas gang.
Under the U.S. “wet foot, dry foot” policy, Cubans who make it to U.S. soil are generally allowed to remain, while those intercepted at sea are returned to the communist island.
For Cuban baseball players, there’s an added incentive to go through a third country such as Mexico before signing a Major League Baseball contract. If they come directly to the U.S., they would be subject to the MLB draft and likely sign a less lucrative deal. Going to Mexico first makes them free agents who can sign with the highest bidder.’
Yep. If a mlb team wants to sign a Cuban player they will have to pay Cuba baseball (the government) a posting fee. Same thing the Japanese leagues require.
Cuban players have been allowed to play in Japan but the contract gave the players salary to the Cuban government, who then paid the player a small percentage.
What mlb is doing is helping Cuba keep the players enslaved to the government until their mid 20’s before they are free to earn more, but not all, of what their labor is worth.