12/18/24
October 31, 2003
Cuban baseball stars Maels Rodriguez and Yobal Dueñas defected Thursday evening. The bigger catch is Rodriguez, a 24-year-old righthander who brings 100-mph heat.
Uh - Canada is lovely during the summer.... And heavily Spanish... As far as you knw.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:15 PM on October 31, 2003
If Rodriquez is 24 years old I'm Fidel Castro.
posted by vito90 at 02:24 PM on October 31, 2003
I think he might be younger than 24. Only two years ago, he pitched for that Little League team from New York that reached the LLWS.
posted by rcade at 02:26 PM on October 31, 2003
Trying to treat this on a serious level, I have to wonder why Fidel doesn't just allow top players to come to MLB the way China is working with the NBA. Politically, I think relations with Cuba are beginning to take (tiny) steps towards normalcy and, hell, they might as well take the gringo dollars if they can in the meanwhile.
posted by billsaysthis at 05:37 PM on October 31, 2003
hell, they might as well take the gringo dollars if they can in the meanwhile. Right. 'Cause Lord knows the first thing the players will do is send a few million back to Poppa Fidel for taking care of them. People just don't roll like that.
posted by yerfatma at 09:47 PM on October 31, 2003
yerfatma, you missed my point--look at the deal Yao Ming has, where a big chunk of his earnings go to his former team in China and (I believe) the Chinese BBall league. I'm not suggesting anything voluntary but contractual.
posted by billsaysthis at 10:42 PM on October 31, 2003
You're forgetting one detail, bill. The anti-Castro lobby is incredibly strong and there is no way that those [expletive deleted] would ever let somebody send massive amounts of dollars down there.
posted by NoMich at 01:31 AM on November 01, 2003
Could baseball make a business arrangement with a Cuban entity without violating the trade embargo?
posted by rcade at 08:03 AM on November 01, 2003
No. That's what I was getting at. Without a de-icing of relations on a much higher level, there's no way Cuba could legal bind someone to send money back. The only other options would be restricting the movement of the player's loved ones, but how many people would then sign up?
posted by yerfatma at 10:40 AM on November 01, 2003
What about the Toronto Bluejays? Since they're in Canada they're not subjected to the U.S. trade embargo. Perhaps they could make an arrangement themselves with the Cuban government and force the U.S. owners to lobby the government for changes. I wonder how much political clout team owners have considering one of their own is now POTUS.
posted by gyc at 11:12 AM on November 01, 2003
I'm not sure the anti-Castro is so strong any more--there was some Congressional movement on the travel ban recently--and so far there hasn't been much corporate demand for changing the restrictions. This kind of thing would change that.
posted by billsaysthis at 02:49 PM on November 01, 2003
bill: Seems I recall reading something in the news earlier this month about Bush vowing to tighten the embargo. Although for the first time in my life, I could be wrong. ;)
posted by NoMich at 12:39 AM on November 02, 2003
Bush said that but the Republicans in Congress were voting (or indicating a preference to vote) differently, which was the basis for my comments. Plus, there are few groups pushing to change the status quo but MLB getting involved would change that.
posted by billsaysthis at 03:31 PM on November 02, 2003
Welcome to the Bronx, Senor Rodriquez.