Cuban baseball : NPR

Trump Administration Kills Baseball Deal With Cuba

Cuban-born Chicago White Sox slugger Jose Abreu defected to the U.S in 2013. In 2017, he testified against a Florida sports agent and a baseball trainer accused of smuggling players from Cuba Morry Gash/AP hide caption

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Morry Gash/AP

Sports

Trump Administration Kills Baseball Deal With Cuba

April 8, 2019 • The deal would have allowed certain Cuban players to sign and play for U.S. and Canadian major league teams without having to defect.

MLB Hopes New Openness Will Ease Players' Path From Cuba To The Majors

Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig shakes hands with fans Dec. 16 at the Latin American Stadium in Havana during a Major League Baseball goodwill tour. Puig and fellow Cuban national Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox returned home Tuesday for the first time since defecting — Puig in 2012, Abreu in 2013 — to join the American big leagues. Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images

Politics

MLB Hopes New Openness Will Ease Players' Path From Cuba To The Majors

March 5, 2016 • The league's plan, which needs approval from the players' union and both governments, would allow direct pickups of Cuban players — no defections — in exchange for cash support for the sport there.

MLB Hopes New Openness Will Ease Players' Path From Cuba To The Majors

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Two Of Cuban Baseball's Brightest Stars Apparently Defect

Cuban baseball star Yulieski Gourriel at Latin American Stadium in Havana in the spring of 2015. Eyder Peralta/NPR hide caption

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The Two-Way

Two Of Cuban Baseball's Brightest Stars Apparently Defect

February 9, 2016 • Lourdes Gourriel Jr. and his older brother Yulieski went missing from their team hotel in Santo Domingo on Monday. Experts saw the potential defection as further sign that Cuban baseball in shambles.

With Improved Relations, Are The U.S. And Cuba Ready To Play Ball?

Yoan Francisco, a rookie for the Havana Industriales, warms up before a game at Havana's Latin American Stadium. Cuban baseball has been facing hard times, but improved diplomatic relations with the U.S. have raised the possibility of increased cooperation and new opportunities. Eyder Peralta/NPR hide caption

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Parallels

With Improved Relations, Are The U.S. And Cuba Ready To Play Ball?

March 24, 2015 • Cuban baseball has been struggling. A lack of money means facilities are in disrepair. Defections mean some of the best players have left. But new relations with the U.S. may mean new opportunities.

With Improved Relations, Are The U.S. And Cuba Ready To Play Ball?

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