A goodwill tour of Cuba organized by MLB and the MLBPA set for Dec.
15-18 will include White Sox 1B Jose Abreu, who defected from Cuba in
'13, marking a "rare concession by a Cuban government that typically
denounces such individuals as traitors and bars them from its national
team," according to Schmidt & Waldstein of the N.Y. TIMES. Abreu
will be joined on the tour "by at least two other" Cuban players --
White Sox SS Alexei Ramirez, who left Cuba in '07, and Cardinals 1B
Brayan Pena, "who left Cuba as a teenager" in '99. Cuba "normally
prohibits players who defect from re-entering the country before eight
years have passed." Ramirez has said that he "does not consider
himself a defector." It is "rare, if not
unprecedented, for a Cuban player active in the major leagues to make a
high-profile return to the island, and Abreu’s recent defection makes
his participation in the tour particularly notable." MLB officials have
worked "closely with their Cuban counterparts, including Antonio Castro,
who is a son of Fidel Castro as well as a top baseball official." Those
MLB officials said that they had "secured assurances that the Cuban
players would be allowed to be part of the tour, although with certain
restrictions." They can "visit with family members who live in Cuba, for
example, but only at a designated hotel." Sources said that the Cuban
MLBers also "received assurances that they would be allowed to leave the
island when the tour was over" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/8).
