New policy could make it easier for Cuban baseball players to play abroad

Support for LAist comes from

Become a sponsor

Podcasts Take Two

Sep 30, 2013

Listen • 5:54

New policy could make it easier for Cuban baseball players to play abroad

Cuba has produced some of Major League Baseball's hottest stars, like the Dodgers own Yasiel Puig. But to get to America, players like him have had to defect before they can suit up. A new policy in Cuba, however, could open up the country's ranks to recruiting.

Yasiel Puig #66 of the Los Angeles Dodgers walks onto the field to start the game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on September 29, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.

Cuba has produced some of Major League Baseball's hottest stars, like the Dodgers own Yasiel Puig. But to get to America, players like him have had to defect before they can suit up. A new policy in Cuba, however, could open up the country's ranks to recruiting.

Cuba has produced some of Major League Baseball's hottest stars, like the Dodgers own Yasiel Puig. But to get to America, players like him have had to defect before they can suit up.

A new policy in Cuba, however, could open up the country's ranks to recruiting.

For more we're joined by Adrian Burgos, professor of history at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne, and author of, "Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line."