Atlanta Braves are part of an FBI investigation, Grand Jury inquiry
The Other Baseball Connection
The specter of Hector Olivera is also involved in this story. We have heard rumblings about the treacherous escapes that some Cuban players have made to free themselves from the bonds of Cuba and the Castro regime. Many of these stories sound like epic or heroic rescues in the dark of night – stories suitable for the big screen. That’s probably not far off, either.
Except that many – if not most – of these players had help. Smuggler help. The kind of help that lurks in the shadows. The kind of help that demands big money for the privilege of their ‘services’. The kind of help that specifically targets ball players for their future monetary earnings. And, too, the kind of help that is already breaking several laws, so why not go ahead and tack on a few more violations?
This is the human smuggling angle – where people are spirited out of one country illegally and dropped into another without paperwork, laws, etc.
The more nefarious part would be human trafficking – smuggling with the add-on of exploiting the victims involved via prostitution, virtual slavery, and the like. After all, baseball players aren’t the lone travelers in most of these voyages.
- MAR 2017:”A sports agent and a baseball trainer were sentenced to federal prison Thursday after their convictions for illegally smuggling Cuban players and their relatives into the U.S.”
- vox.com: “the first conviction of a smuggler for trafficking Cuban ballplayers happened in 2011”
MLB has not discouraged this practice, as noted in the above Vox.com article from 2014:
"There’s an additional reason that players are particularly vulnerable to trafficking: thanks to a quirk in MLB rules, Cuban players can often make more money if they don’t go straight to the US. If they manage to stay in a third country for several months beforehand, like Mexico or the Dominican Republic, they’re eligible for a much bigger MLB contract."
This is the idea of establishing ‘residency’ in another country, in accord with existing MLB rules. Of course, the US State Department hasn’t exactly been helpful in reducing the practice, either, as they have been willing to grant entry visas as part of the process… though it’s hard to blame the players – especially the Cuban-born – from participation in this desperate and life-risking gambit.
Olivera is going to be asked about how he got out of Cuba and who he owes for the trip (and how much). Other Cubans will probably be asked as well.
Of course, the question will have to be asked: if the US Government is going to crack down on this practice, what of the future of getting Cuban players out of Cuba? That’s completely unknown.