Cuba says no deal with MLB for 2016 exhibition game
HAVANA — Cuban baseball officials have not entered talks with Major League Baseball and have no agreement to play an exhibition game next year, a Cuban spokesman said on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that MLB was likely to play a game in Cuba in 2016.
“That may be their will, but we have not had any conversations. There is no agreement,” said Antonio Diaz, spokesman for the National Baseball Directorate.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, quoting the league’s commissioner.
“To the extent that we can play a role in helping the United States government effectuate a change in policy, that we’re following their lead and we’re acting in a way that’s consistent with what they want us to do, that’s an honor for us,” the paper quoted Commissioner Rob Manfred as saying.
If a deal is worked out, it would be the first such game since 1999.