If one ripple from the thaw in U. Nike Vapormax Plus Suomi .S.-Cuba relations means baseball prospects get off the island and into the major leagues without payoffs to smugglers and threats from kidnappers, its hard to see the downside.Just dont expect too much, too soon. Barely two hours after President Barack Obamas dramatic announcement Wednesday in Washington, both MLB and its players union acknowledged as much in statements.We will keep our clubs informed if this different direction may impact the manner in which they conduct business on issues related to Cuba, MLB said.We remain hopeful that todays announcement will lead to further positive developments, the union said.Lets hope so, considering how few positive developments have occurred before now. There were 25 Cuban-born players in the big leagues this past season, the best of which is arguably Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig. The story of how he finally got there, after four failed attempts to leave Cuba, involved a boat trip, a detour where he was held hostage in a Mexican motel room, repeated extortion threats and crossing the U.S. border illegally.On Tuesday, South Florida businessman Gilberto Suarez pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy to smuggle Puig out in return for a sizable cut of his multimillion-dollar salary.Suarez was the second man this year to enter a guilty plea related to the smuggling of a Cuban baseball player into the U.S. Last month, 41-year-old Eliezer Lazo was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle 1,000 Cubans, among them Texas Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin. Sadly, stories like Puigs unsavoury and sometimes life-threatening journey differs from so many others only in the details.Cuba has been turning out world-class athletes — and not just ballplayers — for more than a century. But since the 1959 revolution, most have stayed put.Track stars and multiple medallists such as Alberto Juantorena and Javier Sotomayor took star turns on the Olympic stage, but never reaped rewards that were commensurate with their talents. So, too, did heavyweights Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon, two of only three boxers to win gold medals at three Olympics and considered among the greatest amateurs ever. But neither turned pro.Stevenson was so smooth that a fight against Muhammad Ali was often hyped and loudly debated when both were near their prime, but never came off. And some boxing observers think Savon, who succeeded Stevenson, was definitely the better of the two.But baseball was the stage where Cubas athletes shined brightest. Its version of the Big Red Machine dominated the international scene from the 1940s on, even as team officials thinned out the ranks for potential defectors and conducted bed checks with a zealousness the Cuban army would have admired.But after back-to-back gold medals in Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) — and a raft of defections in spite of the dangers — the cupboard was nearly empty. The team Cuba brought to Sydney for the 2000 Games was largely the same it had sent to the previous two Olympics, as well as every important international competition in between. It was old by any measure and only three players on the squad were under 25 at the time — young enough to make the risk seem worthwhile. Around the same time, half-brothers and defectors Livan and Orlando El Duque Hernandez were pitching for the Giants and Yankees in preparation for the major league playoffs a month down the road.That Cuban team lost the gold-medal game 4-0 to a U.S. team composed largely of young pro prospects and aging castoffs, and only so much has changed since. Many of the best players, such as Puig, Jose Fernandez and Jose Abreu, still find ways to escape. Most of those establish residency outside the U.S. in order to become free agents not covered by MLBs amateur draft. While that ruse often results in big deals, MLB is already hatching plans to get rid of the exemption and make such players part of an international draft by 2017.Making the flow of ballplayers more orderly and less dangerous would benefit just about everyone in the game. Theres even talk at the moment of MLB teams opening baseball academies in Cuba modeled on similar programs already up and running in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, two nations that are providing a big infusion of talent. But until the leaders of two nations that have spent more than a half-century trying to torment one another prove they can co-operate as well, talk is all it is.___Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at [email protected] and follow him at Twitter.com/JimLitke. Vapormax Plus Ale .com) - The Toronto Raptors set their sights on a second straight victory with the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Air Canada Centre tonight riding a two game streak of their own. Vapormax Flyknit 2 Suomi . -- Caris LeVert had 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, and No.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Sonny Gray came off the mound and into the Oakland dugout after the eighth inning purposely trying to avoid contact with manager Bob Melvin. Gray, clearly the best pitcher on this night in a matchup against Rangers ace Yu Darvish, wanted to finish what he started. "I normally talk to him, share a laugh, make something up," Gray said. "I put my head down and he goes, How are you feeling? I just yelled Great!" and kept walking. ... Yeah, I wanted to go back out there." The right-hander did pitch the ninth, wrapping up a three-hitter for his first career complete game as the Athletics beat Texas 4-0 Monday night in Darvishs shortest outing in the major leagues. Grey (4-1) allowed only three singles while striking out six. He threw 73 of 108 pitches for strikes in his 16th career start. "I felt like telling him he better getting it done under 110 (pitches), but thats probably the wrong thing to tell a guy when he goes out for the ninth," Melvin said with a smile. "Usually he looks at me and has a conversation with me when hes coming in and he didnt even look at me after the eighth." Texas got only one runner to third base against the 24-year-old Gray, who threw two wild pitches in the sixth after Robinson Chirinos singled. Darvish (1-1) was gone after 3 1-3 innings, pulled after walking No. 9 batter Eric Sogard for the second time. Those were the only two walks for the right-hander, who allowed four runs and six hits while throwing 83 pitches (45 strikes). Darvish is winless his last nine home starts. "The first few innings I thought he mixed (pitches) pretty good," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "I thought he tried to throw everything at them. ... They found a way to put balls in play. They found a way to score runs." Josh Donaldson had a two-run single in the third, and the As made it 4-0 an inning later when Josh Reddick had an RBI triple and came home on Daric Bartons sacrifice fly. Oakland and Texas entered tied for the AL West lead and the leagues best record at 15-10. The Rangers, shut out for the first time this season, had swept a three-game series in Oakland last week. Grey walked Rangers leadoff hitter Michael Choice, but got out of the first with a fielders choice grounder and a 4-5-3 double play with three Oakland infielders shifted to right side against Prince Fielder. "The first couple of hitters it looked like what he usually does in the firrst where from time to time," Melvin said. Vapormax Ale. "After that it was as well of a pitched game as Ive seen in a while." Choice grounded into an inning-ending double play in the third after the bottom two batters reached base. Darvish made his 66th start for Texas since signing from Japan before the 2012 season. His shortest previous MLB outing had been four innings at Seattle his rookie season, though he went only 1 1-3 innings in Japan start in 2006. Darvish struck out four, but three of those came in the first five batters of the game. The As are 7-1 in their nine games against Darvish, who last week got a no-decision in Oakland after going six innings and leaving a 3-3 tie before Texas won 4-3. After Donaldsons big hit, a bouncer through the left side of the infield out of the reach of diving third baseman Adrian Beltre, the As had the bases reloaded on a one-out single by Brandon Moss. Moss was thrown out retreating to first on a pitch that got away from catcher Chirinos, though the runner was originally ruled safe before Rangers manager Washington challenged and got the play overturned by replay. When Moss slid back in, his foot was against first baseman Fielders foot -- and not the base -- while being tagged. Washington lost a challenge in the eighth when thought Reddick was out on a pickoff attempt diving back to first with Barton batting. Reddick was called safe, and replay confirmed the call before Barton hit a deep flyball. Centre fielder Leonys Martin made a leaping catch on the warning back and threw to first base. Reddick was initially called safe by crew chief Jeff Nelson, who then initiated a replay and changed his call for an inning-ending double play. "Thats a first, two replays with the same guy sliding into the same base," Melvin said. "Thats part of the game now." NOTES: Rangers OF Shin-Soo Choo was out of the starting lineup for the sixth consecutive game because of a left ankle sprain, but flew out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. ... As OF Yoenis Cespedes missed his fourth game in a row (strained left hamstring). Manager Bob Melvin said its 50-50 hell be back in the starting lineup Tuesday. ... Game 2 features a standout matchup of left-handers. Oaklands Scott Kazmir (3-0, 1.62 ERA) pitches against Martin Perez (4-0, 1.42), who has thrown 26 consecutive scoreless innings his last three starts. Perez has two consecutive three-hit shutouts, the last coming Wednesday in Oakland. ' ' '