Havana.– Even if the Cuban government were to allow its players to sign contracts in the United States, the U.S. embargo would make financial transactions with Cuba impossible, ESPN Deportes columnist Enrique Rojas wrote in his blog.

Rojas based his information on a “source close to Cuban baseball authorities,” but he said he expected the news to be denied by government officials.

The Cuban national team and league have suffered a talent drain to the U.S. Big Leagues throughout the past decades. The government has treated athletes who left the island as deserters and won’t allow them back into the country, let alone play on the Cuban national team.

Cuban officials are now “seriously studying” new regulations that would allow baseball players who have played at least eight years in the national league to sign up with professional teams in the United States and elsewhere, without suffering the wrath of their government, the source told Rojas.