About 45 Cuban baseball players gathered on a field in Boca Chica, a coastal city in the Dominican Republic near the capital city of Santo Domingo, for a showcase earlier this year.
Representatives from about 15 to 20 major league teams attended. Every player left without a contract.
In baseball circles, this is no longer considered unusual. Some of the 45 players might have been rewarded with a private workout, and some might ultimately be rewarded with a contract. Those that remain unsigned will have plenty of company: The number of Cuban-born free agents scattered around the Caribbean is thought to number in the hundreds.