Commissioner Rob Manfred is currently trying to work out a deal to have a Major League Baseball Spring exhibition game in Cuba. And if all falls through, the Yankees hope to be one of the two teams making their way to Cuba for the event.
Commissioner Rob Manfred is currently trying to work out a deal to have a Major League Baseball Spring exhibition game in Cuba. And if all falls through, the Yankees hope to be one of the two teams making their way to Cuba for the event.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees are one of 10 teams being considered for an exhibition game in Cuba if the final hurdle can be cleared in order to have the games held there. The idea of an exhibition game in Cuba comes in the aftermath of the United States and Cuba renewing diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Many baseball teams were interested in the chance of going to Cuba, but with time going by many of the teams have dropped out. However, the Yankees have still expressed interest in going to Cuba and if the exhibition game becomes official, Major League Baseball will use a lottery system to pick the two teams. The last game played in Cuba was in 1999 when the Baltimore Orioles played in Havana against the Cuban national team. No team has gone since. Before Fidel Castro came into power, MLB Spring Training camps were held in Cuba.
This wouldn’t be the first time the Yankees played an exhibition game out of the country. In 2014, the Yankees played a two-game series against the Miami Marlins in Panama City, the birth place of their former closer Mariano Rivera.
Source: CubaSí