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M.L.B. Prepares to Make Its Case to U.S. Government on Cuba Deal

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, who was born in Cuba, supports a pending agreement between Major League Baseball and Cuban officials that would create a safer pathway to the majors for Cuban players.Credit...Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

When Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday that it had reached a historic agreement with the Cuban baseball federation to legalize the orderly signing of Cuban players, officials with the league knew the deal still required government approval.

But those same officials, barely three hours after the announcement, were stunned by the swift and vehement objections in a White House statement to a deal the league and the players’ union had been working on for years.

M.L.B. thought it had been operating on safe legal grounds when it made the agreement with Cuba, but it started receiving mixed signals from Washington toward the end of the process, especially in the 24 hours before the league’s announcement.

The United States government could still quash the deal, and some in the administration appear strongly opposed to it. But baseball officials remain optimistic, knowing they have a few arrows in their quiver, including a long list of American companies already doing business in Cuba.

According to two baseball officials familiar with the issue, no one in the United States government has told the league to halt work on the deal, and M.L.B. and the players’ union are operating as if it will pass government scrutiny. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the agreement.

Under the plan, the Cuban baseball federation would release players to M.L.B. in return for a percentage of their contracts, an approach similar to the posting system used by Japanese and South Korean teams. The purpose of the agreement is to end the human trafficking of Cuban players to the United States and Canada.

But the United States maintains a trade embargo with Cuba, and it has been strengthened in certain ways under the Trump administration. At least three branches of government oversee interactions with Cuba: the State Department, the Treasury Department and the National Security Council.

The thrust of the new regulations is to prohibit entities from doing any business in Cuba that benefits its military and security services. Under Olympic rules, the Cuban baseball federation is required to be independent of the central government.

M.L.B. plans to file a brief with the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control, asserting that the league was already granted legal approval to negotiate a deal to pay transfer fees to the Cuban federation for its players.

M.L.B. obtained the license to do business with the Cuban baseball federation from the Office of Foreign Assets Control in September 2016, under the Obama administration. The league is relying on a national security presidential memorandum published on June 16, 2017, that outlined the Trump administration’s new policy toward Cuba and new regulations governing American interests in the country. A fact sheet augmenting the memo said, “The forthcoming regulations will be prospective and thus will not affect existing contracts and licenses.”

On Wednesday, a White House statement criticized baseball’s agreement with Cuba, saying the administration would continue to restrict Cuba’s ability to profit from American businesses.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control could revoke M.L.B.’s license to negotiate with the Cubans. If it does, it would signal a shift in policy that could affect many other companies doing business in Cuba.

Companies including American Airlines, JetBlue, Delta and Western Union, plus several United States telecommunications companies and cruise ship lines, operate in Cuba, and the amount of money those entities pour into the Cuban economy dwarfs what M.L.B. would most likely pay in transfer fees to the baseball federation. Most of the players remaining in Cuba are not thought to be stars or top prospects who would garner huge salaries.

But because M.L.B. has an especially high profile, its Cuban agreement may be subject to more government scrutiny.

M.L.B. may continue to lobby members of the administration and Congress. The league has a legislative action committee that includes Yankees President Randy Levine, who has known President Trump for years and was recently said to be a candidate to replace John F. Kelly as the White House chief of staff. M.L.B. Commissioner Rob Manfred could also seek to speak directly to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

If the agreement is scuttled, Cuban players who choose to defect probably would continue to be smuggled out. Several Cuban-born players in the major leagues have detailed harrowing tales of their escapes in dangerous sea voyages, and some say they continue to face extortion demands from smugglers even after arriving in the United States.

“To this date, I am still harassed,” first baseman Jose Abreu, who has played for the Chicago White Sox since 2014, said in a statement on Wednesday.

While waiting for government approval, M.L.B. and the players’ union still have work to do on the details of the pending agreement — including the specifics of how players would be posted and how scouts would be allowed to evaluate players.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section D, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Baseball Lobbies Officials On Cuba. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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