Throwing Cuban players a lifeline

Clearly the ramifications of those decisions will be felt far beyond the baseball diamond. But then the only thing sports agents are obligated to do is represent their clients, and on this score Cubes' record speaks for itself. More than a quarter of his clients have received signing bonuses of more than $1 million.

"People should know there's a man who will give them his hand, his heart, everything," Francisco Santiesteban--a slight, light-hitting 27-year-old catcher for the Class A Lancaster JetHawks, a Seattle farm club--says of his agent.

There's little chance Santiesteban will ever play for the Mariners, a fact Cubas probably grasped long before he signed him. But there's virtually no chance Santiesteban will be doing manual labor for $10 a month, the going rate in Cuba today.

For Santiesteban, that means as much as any million-dollar contract.

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