I wonder how we would be able to utilize a posting system. There are a handful of guys who seem like they could be major league players and they have played with either Moncada or Abreu. The Cuban pipeline could be even more valuable than it is currently. On the other hand, if it just opens to the highest bidder for older players the big spenders might just out spend everyone on any decent talents. I also wonder how much control the Cuban government would still have over players. Early reports were that a percentage of the players contract would go to the government, but I wonder if the government would negotiate the contracts for them or otherwise just only allow them to leave if they go to the highest bidder so the government gets the most money. 

Edited December 19, 20187 yr by GenericUserName

This is good news.

57 minutes ago, bmags said:

This is good news.

all of your cuban are belonging to us

But seriously, this is just good for baseball in general. The fact that it might help the White Sox in particular is just icing on the cake.

This will disrupt the talent pipeline that already exists to the NPB. Selfishly, i like Japan’s access to that talent, because it makes the league better. But this is better for the players, for sure. 

This is probably a lot more inviting to Cuba's government.  Instead of the stain of people being so desperate to leave that they risk their lives, they can leave with some dignity and still be able to come back home.

Also I have to wonder if the Trump administration might ultimately torpedo any agreement with Cuba over this.

Bad news for the Sox.  They've had so much success with the Cuban players under the current process.

This should be good for everyone. Players are at much less risk and can keep more of their money. Great players will stick around Cuba at least until their age 25 season and when they leave, their teams will get a big payoff from MLB.

When I saw the title of the thread initially I thought Mark Cuban was buying the damn team.  

 

15 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

 

Now that is outstanding. 

I thought originally it was about Cuban companies buying signs/advertising behind the plate that would be visible during broadcasts...but most international broadcasts are already selling that space and juxtaposing local ads over what you actually see in the US or on t.v.

So NOW we don’t need Machado or Harper anymore, just sign ALL the Cubans.

Joking.  But I’m sure we will hear that out of the front office if they fail to come through.

Edited December 19, 20187 yr by caulfield12

7 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

This is probably a lot more inviting to Cuba's government.  Instead of the stain of people being so desperate to leave that they risk their lives, they can leave with some dignity and still be able to come back home.

Also I have to wonder if the Trump administration might ultimately torpedo any agreement with Cuba over this.

I think they will also like it because some of the players will probably opt to still play in the Serie Nacional as a winter league like the dominican winter league. It would also probably allow Cuba to field a better team for the WBC and olympics instead of getting killed because they are only using players that didn't defect. 

So it sounds like every Cuban player that is 25 years or older and has at least 6 years of pro experience will automatically be released to negotiate with MLB teams with the posting fee just being a percentage of the contract. These conditions would mean they would also exceed international amateur standards so they would not be subject to the international bonus pools. 

So basically start scouting the stat lines and see who we should target. 

This still has a few hurdles to clear. Including POTUS.

2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

This still has a few hurdles to clear. Including POTUS.

I don't think they actually do. Apparently the agreement works within current regulations, so the president would have to change things for it to not work. 

One more thing: this agreement doesn't need government approval because MLB already has a license, per source.

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) December 19, 2018

Apparently the cuban league could use the money for facilities updates that they've been gradually less able to do as more of their stars have defected. 

Would love to see Cuba amnesty these defectors so they can come home and see their families.

2 hours ago, Jake said:

Would love to see Cuba amnesty these defectors so they can come home and see their families.

I guess even without that the players are technically still eligible to play for Cuba in the WBC, so I could see the players using WBC participation as a bargaining chip for amnesty. 

1 hour ago, GenericUserName said:

I guess even without that the players are technically still eligible to play for Cuba in the WBC, so I could see the players using WBC participation as a bargaining chip for amnesty. 

Is there actually going to be another WBC? IIRC people were talking during the last one about it not happening again. 

15 hours ago, GenericUserName said:

I don't think they actually do. Apparently the agreement works within current regulations, so the president would have to change things for it to not work. 

 

That's something I'm sure he'll look into...

Edited December 20, 20187 yr by Baron

If anyone is interested in looking up some stats for current Cuban league players, I found that this is the best site: http://www.beisbolencuba.com/series/serie-nacional-beisbol-2018-2019/todos-contra/estadisticas

Baseball reference has stats for past season, but not for the current one like this site does. Generally I like to find players on the site listed above and then find more info on them on baseball reference. If you have auto-translate features on your browser you can get a good enough understanding of what the columns are in the above site. 

Trump is not going to allow the Castros to get rich selling Cubans to MLB.

 

On 12/19/2018 at 9:10 PM, Dick Allen said:

This still has a few hurdles to clear. Including POTUS.

As of right now, it can operate. But if Trump admin decides to reverse some Obama-era policies regarding Cuba, it could tank it.