LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball said it was unable to maneuver so that players and former players from the majors who defected from Cuba join their country’s team in the World Baseball Classic.
The Association of Professional Cuban Players was formed with the purpose of obtaining their participation in the tournament, which will be played from March 8 to 21 of next year.
The Cuban Baseball Federation does not consider players who left the island for their national teams.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said MLB lacks the ability to modify the call-up rules set by Cuba’s baseball governing body.
The tournament is endorsed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the governing body of this sport at the international level.
“International competitions have their rules like the WBC to be endorsed,” Manfred said Tuesday before the Baseball Writers Association of America.
“One of those rules is that the Cuban Baseball Federation selects the members of its team,” he added.
