NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has told teams that Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is eligible to negotiate with big league teams.
The commissioner’s office notified clubs on Wednesday, a day after Cespedes established legal residency in the Dominican Republic.
His agent, Edgar Mercedes, confirmed the residency in a telephone interview Tuesday.
MLB said Cespedes cannot finalize a contract until he obtains an unblocking license from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control because he is a Cuban national who has established residency in another country.
Earlier this month, Cespedes said six major league teams — the Miami Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs and White Sox — are interested in him.
