American baseball has made a move towards signing Cuban defectors over the past few years. The age on these prospects has gotten considerably younger. On Thursday, Major League teams put a new policy in effect that will allow them to bid on Cuban babies.

The New York Yankees began the process by bidding $2.5 million for Arestes Gonzalez. Although he is only two years old, Yankee scouts believe he could develop into one of the best right fielders in baseball in eighteen years.

The Oakland A's got in on the bidding when they offered $300,000 for a slick fielding one year old named Esteban Cruz. Cruz is currently in diapers, but has shown good form in throwing his bottle from his crib.

Not to be outdone by the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox have offered a Cuban couple $4.7 million if they would begin trying to conceive a child. If the child comes out masculine, the Red Sox would then own his rights for the next seventeen years.

The move by baseball comes after teams realized that they needed to start grooming their players at an earlier age. Commissioner Selig tried to get the age limit for Cuban defectors to be ten, but was shot down when the Yankees did not like the idea.

Under the arrangement the league has made, any team who wins the rights to a Cuban defector under the age of five will have that players rights until they turn eighteen. Even if the children do not turn out to be ballplayers, the teams would still own their rights.

A Cuban child who does not have sufficient baseball skills could wind up as a ball boy or a grounds crew member.