The Cuban Connection

There was a very enlightening article on Yahoo.com yesterday that somehow made the connection between Cuban defectors wanting to play baseball in the United States and "human trafficking." The article mentioned Major League Baseball as basically being active participants in the human trafficking. What is going on with Cuban baseball players now reminds me of what went on with Russian hockey players 15 or 20 years ago. Russian hockey players and Cuban baseball players are those countries natural resources and there is a lot of money involved. The Cuban underworld wants their piece of the Major League Baseball pie and shaking down the players and their families is the easiest way to make this happen. Getting Cuban baseball players to the United States is a risky business and sometimes involves a very circuitous route. The Los Angeles Dodgers have three Cuban baseball players on their roster- Yasiel Puig, Erisbel Arruebarrena, and Alex Guerrero- and have historically been at the forefront of going to every corner of the globe to find baseball talent. The threats made against Yasiel Puig and other Cuban Major League Baseball players are not to be taken lightly and MLB needs to address this situation as soon as possible. Baseball is an International game and along with that label, comes everyone with their hand out wanting to be bribed, paid off, and compensated. Teams have to bid on the "rights" to negotiate with Japanese players. That seems to be a more legal and accepted form of human trafficking.