Is BB going to suffer another scandal ?

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
There have been some BB executives accused of skimming money from the Cuban players bonuses. Apparently the FBI is called in to invesigate these sccustaions. Another black eye for pro BB ?

I thought it was the Dominican Republic players, where the representatives allegedly received a 'commission' of sorts from the players and a like amount from the MLB club involved.

Based only on what I have read so far, it appears that there are quite a few people involved, and if that is the case, as one of the daytime judges always says in his courtroom ... "It is wrong! It is wrong! It is wrong! Did I say it's wrong?"

When I read about and hear stories like this, I always wonder how wealthy the scammers/embezzlers/con artists would be if they would apply the same effort and intelligence to doing something legitimate instead of taking advantage of others.

And if these allegations are true, I think the guilty parties should be punished as the law allows. And they should have to make restitution to the players who were affected

Associated Press

NEW YORK — The New York Yankees placed several employees on leave pending the results of Major League Baseball's probe into the possible skimming of signing bonuses in the Dominican Republic, The New York Times reported today.

The employees scouted in the Dominican Republic, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified person in baseball who was briefed on the matter. Their names and jobs were not revealed in the report.




New York is one of six to eight teams being investigated, the person told the Times. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn't want to jeopardize his access to sensitive information, the newspaper said.

MLB and the FBI are investigating whether employees of several big league teams paid young Dominican prospects only portions of the signing bonuses that were reported and then kept the rest of the money for themselves.

ESPN.com first reported on Monday that MLB investigators were examining allegations pertaining to the Yankees, the newspaper said.

Pablo Lantigua, a Boston Red Sox scout in the Dominican Republic, was fired last week after baseball investigators confronted him about allegedly skimming signing bonuses, the Web site reported, citing an unidentified Major League Baseball source.

ESPN said the probe is likely to implicate about 20 people connected to several clubs, according to unidentified sources, and the investigation has been expanded into Venezuela, where many big league teams run player academies.

Four MLB investigators came back to the United States from the Dominican Republic last week and are drafting a report for the commissioner's office, ESPN.com reported.

In May, the Chicago White Sox fired senior director of player personnel David Wilder along with two other Dominican Republic scouts, Victor Mateo and Domingo Toribio, after a two-month probe by Major League Baseball's Department of Investigations.

My understanding is this. There are middleman (not paid by MLB?) that promise delivery of players for such and such amount. The skimming is done by them, and families have no conception of what is going on. Those under investigation didn't necessarily take money, but aware of the practice. This caused the bonus amounts to rise steadily and smaller market teams with smaller budgets to feel left out. Did someone rat on someone?

One of the reasons why the milb chose to implement a draft system here years ago.

I am not sure if all the facts above are correct, but that was my understanding of what has ben going on down in the latin american countries.

Best way to solve the problem is to make everyone enter the draft like in the NBA.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
There are middleman (not paid by MLB?) that promise delivery of players for such and such amount. The skimming is done by them, and families have no conception of what is going on.

The middlemen are called "Buscones" and the families actually DO know what's going on but they don't have much choice. They dream of playing in the MLB and this is how it's typically done. One of the big problems that hasn't really come to light yet that I've seen is that the players are often endebted to the Buscones for their entire career. They continue to demand payment and if the player doesn't pay up, sometimes the Buscones will threaten to harm the player's family. Here's an interesting article:

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/15/sports/sp-dominicans15

No problem actually exists in these situations. In these nations, this is 'business as usual'.

Since the talent level of home grown USA baseball players is steadily dwindling, MLB has entered the global market.

Players seemed to be groomed and promoted in various ways in international play. USA teams cannot win the gold, so it is understood that the better players are in these foreign nations. These foreign born players in such places as Korea, Japan, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, etc playing in the MLB also has the economic effect of increasing the standard of living in those nations. In other cases, it also opens a new market for MLB trinkets and MLB TV. It's all about the Almighty Dollar so these seemingly large payouts are a mere pitance in the long run.

We must adjust our thinking and way of life to this new global ethic. We must learn to accept standard business practices of other nations that may be different.

There is a new day dawning.

Quincy ...

quote:

We must adjust our thinking and way of life to this new global ethic. We must learn to accept standard business practices of other nations that may be different.

There is a new day dawning.

It would appear that way though it really discourages me to believe that we think we have to change our morals this way. Perhaps if MLB would spend their money in their own 'homeland' and help to develope 'home grown' talent, we wouldn't be in a situation where "the talent level of home grown USA baseball players is steadily dwindling.

We have had quite a few discussions on this site about how MLB spends money in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere to develope talent ... and I have always stated that I think that money needs to be spent HERE on our own youth since WE are the ones who are putting the money into the MLB front office coffers by going to the games, buying the souveniers, etc. Maybe rather than give in to the 'new global ethic' (which has no resemblance to any kind of ethics), we should flex our power and not $upport the MLB clubs. Heck with the price of gasoline, that might be incentive enough because it is too costly to drive to the games anyway.

I know that the likelihood of impacting the owners of MLB clubs is less than reality, nevertheless, I do wish we could get the message across to them to look in their own backyard.

FutureBAckmom:

I think our minds are blended over the last few days. I agree with your post. In America if we are not going to become more careful its not just baseball thats going to push out homegrown kids its in every thread, colleges, jobs etc.I agree that I wish we could impact MLB. I want to see more local kids groomed and developed also.
If families are being threatend as mentioned in above post, it just goes along with my post yesterday, whats next with the MLB. One thing after another. But hey as one poster siad YOU WANT TO WATCH THE GOOD PLAYERS, well as you watch many of them you can now think that some of their families are being threatened if they say anything about the money being skimmed. I personally dont know any of this for fact just going off the posts on this topic.

quote:

Originally posted by FutureBack.Mom:

Perhaps if MLB would spend their money in their own 'homeland' and help to develope 'home grown' talent, we wouldn't be in a situation where "the talent level of home grown USA baseball players is steadily dwindling.

The talent isn't dwindling, just considered more expensive as compared to foreign born prospects.

Another issue is the continued usage of metal bats that delays a decison on who is a true prospect and who isn't.
With regards to these so-called middlemen, they sound like lifetime agents?

This isn't just MLB that looks off shore for employees. Try calling up you bank, credit cards or just about any other thing for customer service and you are not calling the US.

Levy heavy fines on companies that go global looking for employees. Would that help?

I don't think it is lack of talent. A player with a secure scholarship being offered anything over certain rounds will likely head off to college first, that eliminates the HS talent pool. For teams who want to develop players beginning at 17, they have to look elsewhere. What also is eliminating the pool, injuries.

JMO.

Talent is dwindling as evidenced by the inability of USA teams to dominate at the international level.

Cuban players in particular were highly sought as the result of their dominance in Olympic and international play.

MLB like many other businesses have taken note of the mediocrity of our citizenry and have moved to the global market for better quality at a better price.

Since the stands at MLB games are usually filled, we as fans are giving our tacit approval to the downfall of our children and our economy. MLB has a vested interest in promoting the international player over the domestic player. Americans continue financial support of the MLB through purchase and tax monies for stadiums (stadii ?). MLB increasing their revenues in international promotion are just raking it in.

We have met the enemy and it is us.

Quincy,

great points.

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Talent is dwindling as evidenced by the inability of USA teams to dominate at the international level.

Cuban players in particular were highly sought as the result of their dominance in Olympic and international play.

I'll bet the Cubans tend to think their talent is getting better instead of the Americans' talent dwindling --- and they are probably more correct than you on that point.

If we are going to compete in a global economy (and we are) then we have to accept that challenge and quit complaining about not winning every time. If we believe that all men are created equal then it stands to reason that the country with the most men will have the most talented ball teams. Just because it is called America's game doesn't mean that Americans can play it better than anyone else.
Kinda like that boy from Plano, Texas winning all those tour de France bicycle races.
Fungo

Using the same logic,

Population says that we have more individuals eligible to play than Cuba, yet they seem more competitive. In fact, the USA has a greater pool to draw from than multiple countries combined that participate in these games.

If the other teams are getting better, then USA talent must be either stagnant or dwindling.

MLB has decided that the better players have to be found outside of the USA. The per centage of foreign born players contines to climb in professional baseball.

We are either inherently less talented or they are inherently better ball players.

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.

The education issue harkens back to the scandal of the MLB Draft.

In the 60's, certain ethnic groups did not graduate high school or go to college in large numbers. With the tumult of the 'Great Society", MLB owners had to invent a method to keep the game as they wished.

The ethnic groups who predominantly graduated high school and/or attended college would have the greater opportunity to play the game at the higher levels.

Other ethnic groups were given 'equal opportunity' through open try outs or play in leagues sanctioned by MLB owners.

The more difficult road that was given to these certain ethnic groups caused these players to often play harder than those with a sense of entitlement. They most often excelled and surpassed the 'entitled players'.

Today, baseball is akin to golf. It takes money to play, equip a player and travel to games. This is not even taking into account field maintenace.

Some groups are expected to pay their own way, while others are supported and fostered by MLB or other benefactors.

The motivation is always the same, profit.

Baseball has been doing business in foreign lands for years and fully understands the methods of doing business in those lands. These pay offs are nothing more than 'business as usual'.