Source: Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photo / Getty
It’s no secret, Donald Trump is a hater, and he is on a mission to undo all of the good our forever President Barack Obama did. Trump’s latest move to scrap a deal between Cuba and Major League Baseball to allow players to sign with teams without having to defect is a great example of his vindictiveness.
The White House defended its decision, stating that the Cuban Baseball Federation is too close to the Cuban government nullifying the deal and due to the current ban on trade with the country.
The deal between Cuba and the MLB was supposed to run through the 2021 season and allowed Cuban-nationals to sign contracts with teams just like Korean and Japanese players. If you are over the age of 25, you were allowed to sign with MLB clubs if they paid the “release fee” from their Cuban teams. Tony Clark who serves as the executive director for the MLB Players Association described the Obama-era policy intent as a “safe, legal process for entry to our system.”
The current immigrant-hating administration deemed the Cuban Baseball Federation too close to the Cuban sports ministry despite the previous administration declaring it wasn’t. As you can imagine, there is a ton of fallout from the ridiculous move. NBC News reports Ben Rhodes, who spearheaded the Obama administration’s efforts to repair US-Cuban relations, called the move “cruel” and said it “serves no purpose.”
The Cuban Baseball Federation spoke about the Trump Administration’s decision stating on Twitter:
“The agreement with #MLB seeks to stop the trafficking of human beings, encourage cooperation and raise the level of baseball. Any contrary idea is false news. Attacks with political motivation against the agreement achieved harm the athletes, their families, and the fans.”
Cuba has produced many of the all-star players in the league right now like Yasiel Puig, Aroldis Chapman, Yoenis Cespedes, and Jose Abreu—just to name a few. They shared their dangerous journeys in hopes to sway the Trump Administration’s decision, but it didn’t work.
It’s clear this is just another case of Trump scrubbing any existence of Obama’s policies. This move won’t stop Cuban’s from defecting, but it will definitely make their journeys to the states a much dangerous one once again.
