MLB News: Baseball Expected to Return to Cuba in 2016, Says Commissioner Rob Manfred
Major League Baseball is one of the most diverse sports leagues in the United States today, and it's only growing.
Cuba is home to some of the most talented baseball players, and it appears as if the small island nation just south of the United States may be the host to exhibition games in the near future.
According to the Wall Street Journal, MLB is "likely to play an exhibition in Cuba in early 2016," said commissioner Rob Manfred in an interview.
This comes as no surprise, considering the United States and Cuba have been working on repairing a fractured relationship that dates back to 1959 -- when the U.S. began implementing trade restrictions against Cuba, who turned communist that very year. However, the past is the past, and baseball may just be the biggest connection between the U.S. and Cuba today.
Cuban-born players have always been a big part of MLB, dating back to 1911 when Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida were the first Cuban-born players to compete in MLB. Just last season, the Chicago White Sox had the best rookie in all of baseball, Jose Abreu. Abreu, a native of Cienfuegos, batted .317 at the plate, had an incredible .581 slugging percentage and hit 36 home runs nearly breaking the all-time rookie record.
That same Wall Street Journal report indicated that 25 Cuban-born players were featured in MLB last season, the single highest since 1970. That time period was highlighted by Cuban Hall of Famer Tony Perez who won two World Series titles with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s. The next two decades were dominated by Havana sluggers Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco, who hit a combined 1,031 career home runs.
How can MLB not love the thriving baseball talent that Cuba has to offer?
The last MLB exhibition game in Cuba was in 1999 when the Baltimore Orioles came to town.
Numerous notable players have risked their lives defecting from Cuba to pursue a career in MLB. Players such as Yasiel Puig, Jose Abreu, Liván Hernández, Alexei Ramírez, Yoenis Céspedes and José Contreras are among the most defecting players from Cuba.
Just recently, we saw Yoan Moncada sign a very large contract with the Boston Red Sox, in which they committed $63 million toward his signing. Héctor Olivera is a very talented hitter who still remains a free agent. The Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees have all shown interest in him. Andy Ibanez is also still a free agent seeking an MLB contract. The skilled defensive infielder defected Cuba in October 2014.
There haven't been any talks of expanding regular season games to Cuba in the future, and there certainly haven't been serious discussions about an MLB team relocating to Cuba. MLB has made a large effort to grow their game over the years internationally. In the 21st century MLB has played exhibition games in China, Japan and Taiwan. We've even seen regular season games played in Australia and Japan.
If Cuba and the US can continue to normalize relations with each other, it could have a huge impact on the game of baseball as we know it.
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