The hard-hitting truth about Cuban baseball players
Journalist Jesse Katz. on the murky waters that Cuban baseball players navigate for a shot at the big leagues.
Journalist Jesse Katz joins guest host Piya Chattopadhyay to explain the plight of Cuban baseball players who hope to make it in the North American major leagues. The players often work with smugglers to get to America, where multi-million dollar contracts might be waiting.
"It's this really antiquated, dysfunctional relationship where Cubans are just put in this different category ... these guys have to get to a third country where they can declare themselves a free agent. You can't be a free agent in Cuba," says Katz.
"There are policies, government policies, that also feed into the situation and force the baseball player to put his life in the hands of more and more sophisticated and, I think, nefarious organizations."
Katz details the high-stakes journey that one player -- LA Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig -- made and explains why he, like so many other Cuban players, see smugglers as their best bet despite a long list of risks.
"There are policies, government policies, that also feed into the situation and force the baseball player to put his life in the hands of more and more sophisticated and, I think, nefarious organizations."