In the last few days, I've had conversations with people inside and outside the Orioles organization about rippling effects there will be in Major League Baseball if and when Cuba is fully open to U.S. travelers.
There is a wide variety of thoughts, but the sense is that all 30 teams will make an immediate push into the baseball-rich country when allowed. The extent of the push is very much up for debate.
There's a belief that an international draft could be on the horizon -- perhaps as early as the next collective bargaining agreement -- and Cuba could fall into that process.
One top baseball official I spoke with said he doesn't envision Cuba being similar to the Dominican Republic when it comes to MLB academies dotting the island. First, the source isn't sure Cuba is truly big enough for 30 separate academies -- it's more likely there will be a few co-op operations involving several teams each if it gets that far.
But, the source said, there's also a real question as to whether Cuba would allow MLB that kind of control over its national sport. Frankly, the Cuban government believes it has done a pretty good job developing its players. And considering how some recent defectors have been able to integrate quickly into MLB, that case certainly can be made.
So to think that Cuba immediately becomes Dominican Republic 2.0 is premature. That kind of cooperation/American dominance over the country's baseball resources may never occur. It is going to be interesting to see how it all develops -- from both a political and baseball standpoint.
In discussing Cuba's situation with baseball people, I heard a tremendous story about the 1999 trip to Havana that I hadn't been told previously. And I wanted to share it with you.
Current Orioles executive director of international recruiting Fred Ferreira inadvertently caused a mini-international incident with the communist country's president at the time, Fidel Castro.
Ferreira can laugh about it now -- calling it "hysterical," but for a split second it was kind of scary.
Ferreira was with the Montreal Expos in March 1999 when the Orioles made their goodwill trip to Havana to play a Cuban All-Star team. Two representatives of each major league team were granted access to the country for the exhibition. And, for the Expos, it was Ferreira and Jim Beattie, who later became the Orioles' executive vice president.
There was a quick meet and greet for the baseball executives with Castro at his palace. Basically, as Ferreira explains it, there was a long receiving line in which the baseball executives had the opportunity to shake hands with Castro and get their pictures taken.
That day, Ferreira was wearing a brown, suede jacket and when he reached Castro, the dictator touched Ferreira's sleeve.
"He said something like, 'Gee, this is nice,' in broken English," Ferreira recalled. "And then he motioned that he wanted to see the label, see who made it."
Ferreira began reaching around to the back of the jacket when he was immediately intercepted by Castro's security guards.
"His secret service grabbed me and put me right up against the wall," Ferreira said. "They thought I was taking something out of my jacket."
Castro intervened and the misunderstanding only lasted a few seconds. But Ferreira said he'll never forget it -- or the momentary stir it caused.
"People behind me were wondering, "What the hell did Fred do?" Ferreira said laughing.