quote:Originally posted by Quincy:
No problem actually exists in these situations. In these nations, this is 'business as usual'.
I agree it's "business as usual" but the DR is reportedly "crawling with FBI agents" for some reason so to suggest there's no problem may be incorrect.
One point that has been missed in the US players vs players from the Dominican Republic / Cuba / Venezuala / etc is that the main differentiator is School. In the US, in order for kids to reach their goal of playing in the MLB, they must get through school first. They go 7, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 9 months a year for 12 years (through HS). Then many continue on through college. We make (and should) education a priority and if this baseball thing works out, great. However in the DR, and probably most other Latin American countries, their view is that in order to get to the MLB, they can't waste time sitting in a class room so they drop out at a very early age and play baseball all day, every day, at an academy.
So if you're a scout you'd be foolish to ignore the kids who play year round, all day every day honing thier skills. It's your job to sign the best possible players.
In a way, it's kind of like the US; many people feel the better players are in the warmer climate states because they have the ability to play more often versus the kids in the north who are stuck indoors during the winter.