The best news that could have been released for the New York
Yankees regarding Cuban defecting stud Yoan Moncada may have been released
today via sanctionlaw.com. In the article SEEN HERE new amendments to the Cuban
Assets Control Regulations will make it easier for Cuban players to sign with
Major League teams.
In years past the United States Department of the Treasury’s
Office of Foreign Assets Control (or OFAC if you’re lazy) has had to unblock
these players before they could be declared free agents by Major League
Baseball and sign with major league teams. The player also had to establish
residency in another country beforehand and take care of any visa and traveling
documentation paperwork before coming to the states, see Rafael DePaula and his
two lost seasons due to visa issues for the Yankees. The whole unblocking
situation started because of the Trading with the Enemy Act which made Cuban
citizens blocked persons in the United States and prevented US citizens to
engage in any sort of transactions with them including their ball players.
On January 16th, 2015 amendments were made to the
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR). Instead of feeding you a bunch of
legal terms that you can read by clicking the link above I will instead dumb it
down for everyone. Instead of establishing residency and filing this paperwork
and that paperwork all a Cuban citizen has to do is take an oath to never
return to Cuba, which obviously we all know can be rescinded, and that player
is unblocked. New regulations do not even require official documents of said
oath. If the Yankees wanted to sign Moncada right now and really upset and
anger the rest of Major League Baseball all they legally have to do is get a
cocktail napkin, write on it that Moncada swears to never return to Cuba, have
him sign it and then have him sign a contract.
This is not a well-known loop hole just yet on the US side
and will likely lead to more and more Cuban players defecting from their native
lands to come to the United States. Those players won’t know about the new
rules and laws until the first player gets around the rules and signs a
contract. Make that Moncada and make that with the Yankees, please.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)