Monday, December 31, 2018

Major League Baseball's Disgusting Deal With the Government of Cuba

This is how crony Major League Baseball plays footsie with communist Cuba.

MLB has cut a deal that will keep the bidding for Cuban players below free-market levels which will also result in MLB collecting taxes from Cuban players for the Cuban regime.


Mary Anastasia O’Grady explains:
Major League Baseball has cut a deal with the Cuban military dictatorship in which Havana will allow Cubans to play in the U.S. In exchange baseball will garnish their salaries and send the money to the regime...

The regime already boasts the world’s largest state-run human-trafficking operation. For decades it has placed Cubans abroad to work for foreign companies or governments as indentured servants. Workers go “voluntarily” because their economic circumstances at home are so dire and they have no other options. But once abroad they receive a small fraction of what they earn; the rest goes to the Cuban state...

If Cubans were free, good ballplayers from the island could get free-agent status in the U.S. as long as they were over 25 and met experience requirements. But Cuba regards its citizens as state property...

The Washington Post reported that the deal will “eliminate the need for Cuban players to defect.” In fact, Cuba says the deal blocks players from signing with major-league teams if they defect. They remain the property of the regime, which according to the Post will take between 15% and 25% of their earnings. That’s roughly what smugglers demand for transport out of Cuba. But as sports consultant Joe Kehoskie told the Post, they will sign “less-valuable contracts” under the “restrictive [release] system or draft, rather than as free agents.” So the league gets cheaper talent in exchange for enforcing regime control of the players.
-RW 


3 comments:

  1. How is this more appalling than the current take by the US government? This is whether living abroad or not.

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  2. But this is nowhere near as outrageous as the NFL allowing players to take a knee during the National Song; Lives are hugely impacted and affected by that...

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  3. So what happens if the MLB doesn't do the deal? These players end up in a far worse state. That's one argument for companies seeking cheaper labor by putting facilities overseas (often in not-free countries where deals need be struck with government) or bringing in immigrants is it not? That everyone is better off than they otherwise would be. Don't MLB fans enjoy lower ticket prices due to the cheaper Cuban players? Aren't MLB fans richer as a result? Why should MLB fans be concerned about Cuban taxation of its citizens and subsidy of a product they enjoy?

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