David from Washington, DC, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In this article from The Athletic, a popular sports news website, two of its baseball writers debate the merits of possible change to create a more ethical relationship between the Dominican Republic and Major League Baseball. Rosenthal has 35 years of covering the MLB under his belt and Torres, a Puerto Rican reporter covering the MLB and its prospects, investigate solutions that have been proposed to combat some of the ways the current system takes advantage of its Dominican prospects.
They use The Athletic’s resources well, including topical quotes from prominent Dominican players like Juan Soto on some of the more prevalent issues in the Dominican system like underage verbal agreements MLB teams come to with young Dominican prospects to intentionally circumvent the law. It discusses the pros and cons of an international draft, while taking into account decisions from players unions and their stances on the implementation of ways to aid the situation. Accountability does not mesh with the profit motives from the MLB and underage verbal agreements or Dominican scouts who are looking for personal gain from young players. The Athletic explains aspects of both sides’ beliefs as well as how each side maintains and exerts its power in the relationship as well as the uncoordinated policies that creates which inevitably harms its players.
Under the 2012-16 CBA, teams routinely exceeded their bonus pools with little regard to penalties that included taxes and limits on future spending. (…) The pools increased at the rate of industry revenue, giving clubs a rough idea of how much they could spend in each signing period in the five-year term. Eager to beat their rivals in the market, teams started reaching deals with players at even younger ages, telling them in essence, “If you don’t agree with us now, the money might be gone by the time you are eligible to sign.”
Torres, Maria & Rosenthal, Ken. “‘A failed system’: A corrupt process exploits Dominican baseball prospects. Is an international draft really the answer?” The Athletic. January 20, 2022.
Rosenthal, Maria Torres and Ken. n.d. “‘A Failed System’: A Corrupt Process Exploits Dominican Baseball Prospects. Is an International Draft Really the Answer?” The Athletic. Accessed November 10, 2022. https://theathletic.com/3080470/2022/01/20/a-failed-system-a-corrupt-process-exploits-dominican-baseball-prospects-is-an-international-draft-really-the-answer/.