Cubans in Japanese Professional Baseball?

HAVANA TIMES — Victor Mesa, the manager of Cuba’s national baseball team, said he “would be delighted to have Cuban players play in the Japanese leagues,” according to the CubaSi website.

Mesa also revealed that there were “conversations behind the scenes” for the island’s players to play in the Japanese professional league, reported the Cuban Play website.

“I would always support our players experiencing different foreign leagues, except in the US, due to current economic sanctions against Cuba. The best place would be Japan,” said Mesa.

Cuba has not won a major title since 2005, while slugger Omar Linares was the only Cuban player to play in the Japanese professional leagues with the permission of the island’s authorities.