A notice to college/pro players and parents

Since this is what I feel is first and foremost an educational site...you have disclosed what can be said is part of the seamy side of the sport. Thanks for the advice and heads up.

Good post!

My son's agent went over the legal mumbo jumbo with us before he signed. He actually doesn't like some language in the contract and insisted on full medical exam, with tests, clearance before son signed. This is common for higher picks, but many teams will not require a full exam for every player before signing. Understand that injury can be career ending. If you get hurt on the job tomorrow you should have a right to settle for injuries but most likley you will have to prove that some injuries did NOT occur before they signed. This is where milb players get burned.

As per college, do understand that if a player is hurt or injured while not playing, their insurance will not cover the injuries, most likely PT, but not cost of operation or serious medical care and most likely will not allow a medical waiver. In other words, if one comes injured prior to college or possibly MLB, they won't cover it. Do not drop your insureance coverage on your college player. It's great to be involved in other things while at college, but if you get hurt off the field and have to sit out a year, not only will you incur your own costs but the coach is going to be real p*ssed off.

MLB offers medical insurance, but can be limited in the off season. Son has no Rx coverage, pays out of pocket and then only reimbursed for, if deemed necessary. Son has allergies and medication not taken care of by the team in the off season.

I agree that all contractual agreements should be read over and if you can't understand them enlist the help of a professional (agent or lawyer) who can.

It also doesn't hurt to contact the athletic department for explanation of paperwork that they will ask you to sign before son arrives.

Is that where on the contract he signed, or where he was standing when he signed? Thanks for the great reminder to be ever vigilant. So far we haven't had to deal with any of this cr*p.

I don't know about MLB, but to add on to what TPM posted most colleges provide secondary insurance for athletic injuries, with the family responsible for primary coverage. Until your son has his own FT coverage, or until they age out, it's best to keep them on your plan.

Thanks for the heads up rz1. Most players go into pro ball on an emotional high forgetting this is PURE business for MLB. Like many my son was injured in pro ball and was forced onto the DL. Multiple concussions and a shut down of his thyroid caused his vision to blur. He started to improve and felt as if he could come off the DL (I didn't think he was well). The manager indicated he could start playing if he signed a release stating he wasn't having any problems. He signed the medical form and within 4 hours he was sent home. Twenty years of highly emotional involvement basically came to a end because of a document crafted in the law offices of MLB.

I haven't researched it but I can see how MLB will say his contract was signed in a state other than his home state thus creating another hurdle that helps isolate MLB from liability if he wanted to pursue any worker's comp claims.
Fungo

Fungo, I have some suspicion that Josh's story is more the rule than the exception. Far too often, players are "cleared" to play, when they cannot. Too many of those then get released.
In Josh's situation, I wonder if he was given all of the information to which he was entitled by the applicable workers' compensation laws and provided them with the same speed with which he got notified he was released. Maybe the better question is whether he got any of the information he was required to be provided about his rights to workers' compensation benefits.

It would be interesting to see data on how rapidly teams release players when they are "cleared" to play as contrasted with how rapidly??? the team provides that same player the required information about all of their rights to worker's compensation benefits and the laws that apply for them
spizzle, workers' compensation rights are governed by the laws of each state. In general, a baseball player is entitled to receive benefits under the laws of the state where the contract was executed and/or where the injury occurred.
MLB has argued, and had rejected in CA, that the contract isn't final until it is approved in the Commissioners office. California has held that each year when a Milb player receives his extension and pay notice to sign, his signing it accepts and completes the contract for that year. It is where he is when he signs it that usually controls the jurisdiction. If the player signs it in CA, then CA workers' compensation benefits/laws applies.
If he waits until he gets to Fla or Az to sign it, he needs a good lawyer and a willingness to battle a long fight, as rz1 suggested.If the player cannot "prove" he signed it in CA, expect some battles.
Bottom line, sign it in the state where the player lives, keep a copy, keep a copy of the envelope in which it is mailed back to the team. Even then, expect a fight to say the player has to travel to some other state, where the benefits for injured players might be less and legal fees and inconvenience for the player more..

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
Good post!

My son's agent went over the legal mumbo jumbo with us before he signed.

Remember, although the agent's job is to represent your son's best interest, its in HIS best interest to get the deal signed. So I hope you hired an independent attorney to look it over - one who is incentivized by NOTHING more than his professional good standing and the check you gave him to do that one specific job. A lot of people make this mistake when signing contracts - mostly when they trust the agent's "in-house" legal support.

Thanks for all the info. I'm forwarding it to my Josh in case he hasn't already signed his contract.

Tons of great info packed in here... keep it coming.

And to piggyback on a different thread...

Thanks...

quote:

Originally posted by wraggArm:

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
Good post!

My son's agent went over the legal mumbo jumbo with us before he signed.

Remember, although the agent's job is to represent your son's best interest, its in HIS best interest to get the deal signed. So I hope you hired an independent attorney to look it over - one who is incentivized by NOTHING more than his professional good standing and the check you gave him to do that one specific job. A lot of people make this mistake when signing contracts - mostly when they trust the agent's "in-house" legal support.

Good points, any advisor making a visit should provide a copy of the milb contract to prospective clients, we had the contract from when son was in HS, so pretty familiar with most of the basic stuff. You do have a right to have an attorney look it over. Before son signed, we (parents) went over the contract again and advisor pointed out what he liked and didn't like and those were addressed with the team in addendums.

BTW, a player out of HS has to have the contract signed with parent, so it is the parents responsibility to understand also what they are signing.

Interesting thing that I found out, a player that I know was seriously hurt and did not recover completely within a certain time frame, he has three years to return, I am not sure of all of the details, his agent is Scott Boras.

We talk about agents but it should be brought up that players go to college unrepresented and a majority of minor league players go into the pro ranks unrepresented or represented by guys who just had a good night sleep at a Holiday Inn. The cold hard facts say once the kid moves from mom-n-dads to college or whatever he becomes a pawn in a new game. As parents you have to change gears from carrying the ball bag to making sure the i's dotted and the t's are crossed. To think we put all that fun time watching on the field to become an educational/business consultant when he leaves the nest.

It's all part of the journey

ok ,foolish question.

do milb players sign a new contract annually,or is that first contract last 5 year?

I can only speak for my son, but he's signed a new contract every year. First two when he lived in Colorado and last year while he lived in Texas.

I just asked son and he never signed anything other than his contract back in 2007. That contract is dated through 2013.

For most kids drafted, there is no real ability to negotiate. Either you want the chance or you don't. Top picks have some leverage, but most of that is spent over money, not contract language.

That being said, the form MiLB contract they send you is not too terribly full of surprises.

One thing I did find odd was that the contract gives the team "exclusive" rights to the player's likeness. I suspect they mean "when in uniform" (trademark issues), or maybe just that they could use his likeness (e.g. on poster day, or on team photos or programs) without additional compensation -- but that would be "nonexclusive", not "exclusive". If that's what they meant to say, it ain't what they said. I would personally never sign that contract without inserting "non" in there ahead of "exclusive".

When listening to scouts explain things, bear in mind that some scouts are better than others. Some of them speak on topics they know precious little about (and thereby tell you wrong), and some just flat out lie to you.

All of which is to say, you cannot trust the scouts to explain contract documents to you. They don't work for you or your son.

This site is a great way to learn a lot so that you can have your antennae go up when something doesn't sound quite right. But to be honest, this is where the "advisor" comes in. You really have to have someone who will tell you the truth and look out for YOU, someone who can tell you when what that scout just told you is BS. It's not enough to be intelligent. You have to have knowledge. But you don't have it. A good advisor does and can help level the playing field for you.

There are also horror stories about bad apples in the "advisor" biz, but that just drives home the need to do your homework and get the right guy in your corner.

And do it BEFORE you let scouts into your living room. While you still have time to sift through the candidates and get the right one for you and your son. Meaning, rz1, you should be doing this now, if you haven't already. Because December-February are the scout visit months.

Midlo,
rz1's son has been drafted and is in the Yankee's organization.I believe he is heading into his 4th year in Milb.
I have a very different view of the Milb contract. When you apply it to what happens in real life, and what happens in injury or disability situations amongst others, it can be full of confusion and surprise.

Here is something everyone might not know...

The MLB Scholarship program is a great incentive however it is not very flexible for someone that wants to take some classes while still playing.

Once you start using the scholarship money set aside in escrow the clock starts ticking. You have four years from the time you take your first class to use up the money set aside for what you negotiated.

Translation... if you’re going to take some classes on a part time basis you are better off paying for them out of your own pocket until you can dedicate time to take a larger class load to maximize your scholarship program.

Good information Jerseydad.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:

There are also horror stories about bad apples in the "advisor" biz, but that just drives home the need to do your homework and get the right guy in your corner.

And do it BEFORE you let scouts into your living room. While you still have time to sift through the candidates and get the right one for you and your son. Meaning, rz1, you should be doing this now, if you haven't already. Because December-February are the scout visit months.

The kid was drafted out of HS in03, we had no advisor because he was not a top prospect and he was very committed to college. We selected an advisor in the summer of 05. In Feb of 06, his draft year during a bullpen in front of mlb scouts he blew out his elbow. A month later his advisor was with Ryans mother and I in the recovery room in Birmingham after the Andrews slice-n-dice. He didn't pitch for 11 months but the guy was always a phone call away. You'd think this guy had nothing better to do than hang around with a college tj casualty from WI but in the last 8 years he represented 40 guys drafted in the first 3 rounds. We talk about the college fit, but an advisor/agent should become family and that is comforting from a parents view. Do your homework. In most professions name droppers are all talk, in this profession an agents client history is proof in the puddin.

quote:

Originally posted by jerseydad:
Here is something everyone might not know...

The MLB Scholarship program is a great incentive however it is not very flexible for someone that wants to take some classes while still playing.
I heard that only 5% of those who had the beni used it.

Translation... if you’re going to take some classes on a part time basis you are better off paying for them out of your own pocket until you can dedicate time to take a larger class load to maximize your scholarship program.
Good point. My son finished his undergrad this last summer online on his dime and got permission to use the money allotted for grad school.

rz,

Sorry, I'm not sure I remember who Ryan's agent is, if I ever knew in the first place.

He sounds like one of the good advisors/agents. Wish there were more like him.

I'm always interested in knowing those like Ryan's agent. If you want to keep his name confidential could you PM or email me. I get many calls asking about agents and that's why I want to know all the good ones.

Thanks

pm

Sorry I misunderstood where rz1 was in the pipeline.

And glad he got a good one behind him.

The word I got about the scholarship plan is that some teams will throw money into that pot pretty loosely because they know almost no one ever actually uses the money.

Which is a great opportunity, if you're one of those who are convinced you'll actually use it. Let 'em put a fortune in there so you don't risk coming up short.

Do bear in mind, though, that the distributions, when received are (I believe) treated as taxable income. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

I hope I'm not being too presumptive here, but my son is eligible this year and so far we've had no meaningful contact with advisors. If any of you good people have recommendations, one way or the other, on advisors would you please PM me? I would greatly appreciate any help in navigating this mine field.

take a look at this site there's a lot of good info

sports agents

I sorta like this guy.

I have seen several posters refer to The MLB Scholarship program what is exactly is that? Is it offered to all players drafted out of High School or do they have to negotiate for it?

The MLB scholarship program is something that is negotiated. I would say a good rule of thumb is that they will at least offer you what your son's current scholarship offer is.

I have heard that some clubs will try to negotiate the value to be the same as the cost of an in state education however in our case my son was going to an pretty expensive out of state school so they agreed to work off of those numbers. One other thing to consider is the escalating cost of education. What college will cost 4 or 5 years from now will be much different that the cost today (see current thread about cost of education) Don’t be afraid to factor that in when negotiating.

I am sure every club is different in how they work their scholly offers. Like someone said before, there are so few players that end up using the program that I think many clubs will be quick to give you the higher value if you ask. Especially for HS players.

Thanks for the link rz1

The plan is not taxed if paid to the school, but to the player. If done that way, depending on the players tax bracket, he would get back what was lost in tax. Fungo's son just went through this process, maybe he can elaborate more. If you begin the plan, you have to finish it within a certain period of time that is correct.

HS players will get more for the plan as an incentive, however most teams we talked to would not give son what his cost of out of state tuition would be, but he was never drafted so don't know what would have been the end result. Ask for the moon.

Definetly ask extra for inflation, mine got extra, but in the years since he negotiated, the tuition costs have risen dramtically. He can someday have the opportunity to use it as an in state student for less. For negotiating those that have been drafted in college, most teams will give you what it would be to complete your degree where you began.

If you negotiate for extra money in lieu of the plan, remember you will pay tax immediately on it, save it for your education later on.

This is priceless advice!

Much of the advice offered on this website is priceless.

However, if you wish to pay for some of it..... Give back....