Caribbean baseball czar: This is the moment for Cuba

HAVANA — Though the arrival of Juan Francisco Puello had been announced, it still made headlines in Cuba. The president of the Federation of Caribbean Professional Baseball (CBPC), who attended the two final games of the National Series, brought to the island an agenda that included the insertion of Cuba into his organization, as a full member.

Puello first appeared at the press conference at José Ramón Cepero Stadium in Ciego de Ávila, after the sixth game in the grand finale of the national competition. He was accompanied by Higinio Vélez and Heriberto Suárez, Cuban baseball’s top leaders.

Some of the most important moments in his conversation with the specialized media dealt with the procedure to include Cuba as a full member of the CBPC. “This is the moment for Cuba,” said the Dominican baseball executive, a moment that could radically transform the country’s relations with Major League Baseball (MLB).

At present, Cuban baseball is the main attraction of the world’s most important leagues, because the island has experienced a boom in talented players in the Majors. Add to this the implementation of a new hiring policy approved by the INDER (National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation) in 2013.

Not to put too fine a point on it, it is evident that the Big Tent and its branches in the Winter Leagues of the Caribbean are a natural market for Cuban prospects. Scouts explored it before 1959 with excellent results and several players went on to Halls of Fame in countries like Mexico and Venezuela.

While in reduced numbers, Cubans have pretty much owned these events in recent years. Note, for example, the presence of Cubans in many of the teams that played in the two latest Caribbean Series.

The future seems to be even more promising. According to Puello, on his first visit in 1999 he considered that the conditions were not right for Cuba to “open” to organized baseball. However, today he acknowledges that the situation has changed and that Cuba’s insertion in the CBPC as a full member would be a very important step in the country’s relation with MLB.

On the chances for the insertion of Cuban ball players in MLB, Puello said that “from the moment that the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) joins the CBPC, things are bound to change. There will be a 180-degree turn in Cuba’s relation with that part of baseball” (MLB), a world to which Cuba had had no access because of the existing restrictions.

Including Cuba in the Federation is not a new concept. Quite the opposite. Puello himself has been one of its main promoters in recent years and, thanks to his efforts, Cuban teams returned to the Caribbean classic. Invariably, such intentions go through the links between regional baseball and MLB, and MLB’s obedience to U.S. laws.

In that regard, Puello told the press that talks are ongoing with MLB and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to legitimize Cuba’s presence as a full member of the CBPC, a vital point in the agenda he brought to the island.

To reinforce the regional interest in gaining CBPC membership for the Cuban Federation, Puello said that his office has received communications from all the leagues that form the CBPC, showing great interest in hiring Cuban players. This could be confirmed only if negotiations with the OFAC and MLB are successful.

The arrival of Cuban players to the Caribbean leagues could be a breath of fresh air for those competitions, which cannot count on their best players because of the MLB’s “extreme fatigue” clause. According to Puello, those competitions could fill those voids with Cuban players.

Beyond the optimism shown while discussing Cuba’s inclusion, the CBPC’s president said that Cuba will not be the site of the Caribbean Series in 2018 or 2019, as requested by the Cuban Federation, because “it’s too soon for that.”

However, he did not rule out that possibility for series beginning in 2020. That possibility would be closely linked to the island’s participation as full member in the CBPC.

Also, he said that the Caribbean Federation’s policy is to support Cuba’s presence in the Caribbean Series, because of the country’s significance in competition’s history and the quality of Cuban baseball, current champion of the 57th edition.

Referring to the payment of the prize obtained by the Cubans in the latest Caribbean Series, Puello said that it is a political, not a sports problem. He also said that “that must end, and we’re making every effort to not be limited in what we can give the Cuban team.”

“At present, we can only give them per diems and pay for air fare and land transportation. I insist that it is wrong for Cuba to participate and then be denied the awards to which it is entitled.”

Much was speculated about the real intentions of Puello’s visit to Cuba, but the doubts dissipated last Friday (April 10). Puello and the Caribbean Federation came to get everything: full membership, hirings and strong ties between Cuba and the CBPC.

While it’s true that almost nothing depends on the Dominican official and that we’ll have to wait for the OFAC and MLB, we should point out that never before, in the past 56 years, we have been closer to CBPC membership and in better circumstances to achieve it.

Are we really living the moment for Cuba?