Yankees Do NOT Have to Wait for Moncada to Be Cleared to Sign Him

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 16^th, 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paperwork all a Cuban citizen has to do is take an oath to never return to Cuba, which obviously we all know can be rescinded, and that player is unblocked.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.