MLB players visit Cuba officially for first time since 1999

MLB and MLBPA unite to send All-Star delegation to Havana. Already it's paying off for individuals: Jose Abreu had not held his young son in 2 1/2 years since defecting.

By Dave Brown

Dec 15, 2015 at 11:39 pm ET • 2 min read

In the wake of restored and thawing relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States, ambassadors from Major League Baseball have gone to Havana to promote and celebrate the game. The bilateral benefits of growing a relationship between MLB and Cuba are obvious, even if it's to be seen how quickly and extensively they will bear fruit. But one big positive already has come of it.

Many of the visiting major leaguers are Cuban-born -- players such as Jose Abreu of the White Sox, and Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers -- and the trip has afforded them a chance to see family and friends who, at one time, seemed cut off forever.

Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reports that it had been 2 1/2 years since Abreu could hold his son Darielito, now 5, in his arms:

He's missed story time, the first day of kindergarten and his boy's first baseball game, living these special milestones through descriptions from his family through phone calls and photos.

But Abreu will need no messenger today. For the first time since he defected from Cuba, he will reunite with his son.

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"I'm very grateful to have the opportunity Major League Baseball is giving us to go back to Cuba and represent baseball, which is one of the most important parts of life there," said Abreu, who defected in 2013. "It's been very difficult not seeing my son. He knows his father is coming, and he's so excited. I can't wait to see my boy."

Alexei Ramirez, Clayton Kershaw, Miguel Cabrera, Brayan Peña and Nelso Cruz also are traveling. MLB remains hopeful the Tampa Bay Rays will play exhibition games in Havana this coming spring, and that the league's relationship with Cuba expands from there. Not since 1999, when the Orioles played in Havana, has MLB sent an official delegation to the island nation.

What matters more than the occasional exhibition game, or making Cuba into a place for MLB to re-plant minor-league baseball teams, or even regulating the flow of Cuban talent into the majors, is the effect that normalizing relations with the United States will have on families. These ballplayers are lucky to be among the first to have an opportunity to reunite with their loved ones, but hopefully their presence in Cuba eventually lead to better lives for the people who live there. It's still a long way away -- but perhaps we'll look on this pilgrimage as a beginning to something truly transformative. We know baseball can have that kind of power.