Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation have reached an agreement that would allow Cuban players to join an MLB team without needing to defect, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
The agreement would allow Cuban players to come to the United States on work visas, with MLB teams playing the CBF a release fee, a similar system to how Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese players join MLB teams. As Passan noted, the pact would "end the trafficking of players by smugglers—situations that have led to players being kidnapped, threatened and extorted."
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.