The change will once again require Cuban players to cut ties with their national program before signing with MLB.
The Treasury Department told MLB attorneys in a letter Friday that it was reversing an Obama administration decision allowing the major leagues to pay the Cuban Baseball Federation a release fee equal to 25% of each Cuban player’s signing bonus. The decision made public Monday afternoon appears to make the MLB-Cuba deal unworkable by eliminating the payment mechanism, similar to one MLB has with leagues in China, Korea and Japan.
U.S. law prohibits virtually all payments to the Cuban government under the 60-year embargo on the island but MLB argued the Cuban Baseball Federation, which oversees all aspects of the sport on the island, was not formally a part of the Cuban state. "We stand by the goal of the agreement, which is to end the human trafficking of baseball players from Cuba," an MLB statement said.
"The deal with Major League Baseball is an attempt to stop human trafficking, encourage co-operation and elevate the level of baseball," the Cuban Baseball Federation said on Twitter. "The politically motivated attacks on the deal hurt players, their families, and fans."
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