Yesterday was an extraordinary day. Putting your political leanings aside, two Cuban-American U.S. Senators, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, took the stage to participate in the GOP Primary Debate. To get to this point, their ancestors had to flee an oppressive Communist government to find a better life for themselves and future generations. Sens. Cruz & Rubio are the embodiment of those hopes and dreams. 

Yesterday also marked the day that Cuban born baseball players had the opportunity to return home and see their families for the first time in years. Jose Abreu, Brayan Pena, Alexei Ramirez, and Yasiel Puig got that opportunity because they returned to Cuba as part of MLB’s trip to promote the game. The Cubsn defectors left to seek a better life leaving behind parents, siblings, spouses, and yes, even children. Abreu has been away from his son for two and a half years. 

Essentially, Abreu left when his son was a little older than my son is now. I have trouble leaving him in the morning when I go to work. I can’t imagine leaving him knowing that I was most likely leaving him forever. I can’t imagine a situation so dire that I could actually entertain the idea let alone follow through with it. 

More so, I can’t imagine how MLB didn’t bring along all current and former Cubsn born players. I don’t know how many of them were given the opportunity. I don’t know how many declined. I think of the former Mets who did not go or get a chance to go. Yoenis Cespedes still has a son in Cuba, but he is staying in the U.S.  Whatever the reason, he might’ve missed the last chance he’ll ever get to see his son again. That thought is just incredibly depressing. 

MLB is making this trip in part to determine the future of Cuban baseball, and what, if any, role MLB will have in said future. MLB makes this trip while Jose Fernandez seeks the opportunity to play in the U.S. after defecting from Cuba. He defected after being banned from playing for a year because they knew he wanted to defect. It’s an odd situation to say the least. 

We also don’t know what opportunities Cuban baseball players will have in the future. We don’t know if these defectors like Cespedes will be able to return to see their families. We don’t know if players like Cespedes missed the chance of a lifetime. On a lesser note, we don’t know if these players will be permitted to play for Cuba in the WBC. 

While MLB should be commended for creating this opportunity for the Cuban born players, it should be noted there’s more to do. They need to negotiate a posting system like there is with the Japanese Leagues. This may prevent the harrowing tales we hear from players after their defection. They should be setting up a way for their current a former players the right to see their families. Every year, MLB sends a contingent of players to Japan to play in an exhibition series. 

You may not think MLB has that power. I respectfully disagree. This is the league that had a home and home between the Cuban National team and the Baltimore Orioles. This was before President Obama made any steps to formalize relations. Imagine what MLB could do now. It’s their duty and responsibility to help their players and their families. 

In any event, I’m happy these families were reunited. I’m hopeful for better treatment of Cuban players and their families. Something has got to change. MLB could choose to be on the forefront of this change, or they could sit around and wait for someone else to do it.

With that said, I’m going to come home tonight and tuck my son into bed tonight. No government can stop me from doing that. We live in a place where I don’t have to make that choice. We live in a country where the children of immigrants could possibly one day become the President. 

For players like Jose Abreu, he only got December 14, 2015 to do that.  We still don’t know if that’s the last time he ever sees his son. Here’s hoping MLB steps up and helps change that.