While it's unclear whether the investigation was a reason for his dismissal, Daniel has close ties to others under MLB and FBI investigation for pocketing money earmarked for the signing bonuses of Latin American players. Daniel was a scout for the Cincinnati Reds from 1992 to 1994, when former Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden served as the Reds GM. During the 1994 seasonJorge Oquendo was also a scout in Latin America for the Reds. Oquendo later scouted the region for the ChicagoWhite Sox, under the team's senior director of player personnel, David Wilder. The White Sox fired Wilder in May 2008 after allegations surfaced that he had siphoned money from signing bonuses. As SI.com previously reported, Bowden, Oquendo and Wilder are all focuses of the ongoing investigations.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Torrealba's son kidnapped, released
The 11-year-old son and brother-in-law of Colorado Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba have been released within hours of their kidnapping in Venezuela.
You can read the rest of the AP story at SI, is here.
You can read the rest of the AP story at SI, is here.
BPro on Sano and Mateo
Kiley McDaniel has a long Unfiltered post up at Baseball Prospectus (no subscription necessary) on Miguel Sano and Wagner Mateo, two Dominican prospects who should command seven figure bonuses when they become eligible to sign next month.
To be frank, I'm haven't really decided what to do with July 2 rumors, but generally I think I'm going to leave them alone. McDaniel's post is worth reading, though, for its sketch of the games clubs and players play in these negotiations (though generally speaking, I think we indulge ourselves a bit when we imagine clubs leaking rumors to gauge the reaction of the fans).
A taste:
The Pirates think, like many talent evaluators, that Sano is the best player in years; this is why it’s no secret that nearly every Latin insider thinks Pittsburgh will end up with Sano. That doesn’t do much to make the $2-3 million range argued for in the article an expected top bid from Pittsburgh. They don’t want to break the bonus record by bidding against themselves, but the incessant chatter that they may go well over $4.25 million along with Kovacevic confirming they’re still “intensely interested” makes this quickly look like a transparent attempt by management to see if they can to avoid breaking the bonus record. Not illegal or even a bad idea, but transparent. Sources indicate the Pirates bid ceiling is $4 million, though it’s not even known if that’s a hard ceiling or another ploy. Other interested clubs suddenly come into play with this stance from the Pirates, so GM Neal Huntington has his work cut out for him.
To be frank, I'm haven't really decided what to do with July 2 rumors, but generally I think I'm going to leave them alone. McDaniel's post is worth reading, though, for its sketch of the games clubs and players play in these negotiations (though generally speaking, I think we indulge ourselves a bit when we imagine clubs leaking rumors to gauge the reaction of the fans).
A taste:
The Pirates think, like many talent evaluators, that Sano is the best player in years; this is why it’s no secret that nearly every Latin insider thinks Pittsburgh will end up with Sano. That doesn’t do much to make the $2-3 million range argued for in the article an expected top bid from Pittsburgh. They don’t want to break the bonus record by bidding against themselves, but the incessant chatter that they may go well over $4.25 million along with Kovacevic confirming they’re still “intensely interested” makes this quickly look like a transparent attempt by management to see if they can to avoid breaking the bonus record. Not illegal or even a bad idea, but transparent. Sources indicate the Pirates bid ceiling is $4 million, though it’s not even known if that’s a hard ceiling or another ploy. Other interested clubs suddenly come into play with this stance from the Pirates, so GM Neal Huntington has his work cut out for him.
Jesse Sanchez reports renewal of MLB TV deals overseas
Jesse Sanchez, one of the best, reporting at MLB.com:
When I was in the DR last summer, there was an MLB game on free, network television more or less every night of the week. Mostly it was the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox and the Reds (who were running out Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez two nights out of five); for what it's worth, seemed to me that the announcers were less inane/more honest, which perception I attributed to their distance from and lack of dependancy on the teams and players, but could have just been my imcomplete grasp of the Spanish...
America's national pastime has gone global and the world will keep watching.
On Monday, Major League Baseball International renewed broadcast agreements with Japan, Venezuela and Canada and added a new contract for Australia.
DSL underway
The Dominican Summer League has started. I was in the DR all of last June, saw quite a few DSL games. I'll write something about what it's like soonish, for now a link to the league site...
ESPN's Bill Simmons and Daily Kos blogger at odds on Dominican baseball, steroids
A Daily Kos blogger takes issue with ESPN's Bill Simmons for linking steroid use to Dominican nationality. A non-starter for me; sort of an inane piece from Simmons, who I think is much better on basketball and football than he is on baseball, and an overreaction on the part of the blogger.
(In an article about the decline of David Ortiz, Simmons implies Dominicans are more likely to use steroids; the blogger is outraged. But Simmons, as the Kos commenters note, is not leading a steroids but rather an age-gate chase.
Yawn. Well, the party line here at IBB is that when it comes to the international talent market, the more media attention the better; if some of it is just talking-heads talking, the exposure may attract more real reporting, and is worth it just for that.)
Anyway, how could I resist the chance to stick ESPN, Bill Simmons and Daily Kos in the title of a post? If I've tricked you into landing here, hope you stop and take a look around...
(In an article about the decline of David Ortiz, Simmons implies Dominicans are more likely to use steroids; the blogger is outraged. But Simmons, as the Kos commenters note, is not leading a steroids but rather an age-gate chase.
Yawn. Well, the party line here at IBB is that when it comes to the international talent market, the more media attention the better; if some of it is just talking-heads talking, the exposure may attract more real reporting, and is worth it just for that.)
Anyway, how could I resist the chance to stick ESPN, Bill Simmons and Daily Kos in the title of a post? If I've tricked you into landing here, hope you stop and take a look around...
Interview with the creators of *Sugar*
An interview with Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, creators of Sugar, here. Fleck calls the movie "an immigrant story that uses sports as a vessel to explore feelings of loneliness and isolation and the search for community." Fair enough. I liked the movie, which tells the story of a Dominican prospect's journey from a baseball academy in San Pedro to the midwestern funhouse of the American minor leagues; thought it walked the line of verisimilitude without stumbling (too often) into cliche*, and believed in the story enough to enjoy the flight of fancy at the end.
*There's some cliche, from the Dominican kids who keep ordering french toast for breakfast because they don't know how to say "eggs" to a pretty standard take on advancement/demotion stories, but the film struts through its material confidently, and I, for one, was rarely aware that I'd heard much of it before.
Two reasons baseball fans should go see it:
The scenes in the DR, off academy grounds, really put you in the country. A healthy percentage of major league baseball players are Dominican, those of us who consume (and criticize) their product ought to have a sense of where they come from. (There's scene on the malecón, where a waashed-up ballplayer banters with a still-hopeful, that I thought was worth the price of admission.)
The film captures the fear that I imagine common to developing/professional athletes. In the case of the titular character, Sugar, the fear is compounded by his dislocation. Forgetting that, Sugar's success and failure on the mound seem like equal mysteries to him, I don't think he can feel the difference between the mechanics of a good outing or bad. When the stakes are high and the results are public, that must be terrifying, and I thought the film conveyed that.
*There's some cliche, from the Dominican kids who keep ordering french toast for breakfast because they don't know how to say "eggs" to a pretty standard take on advancement/demotion stories, but the film struts through its material confidently, and I, for one, was rarely aware that I'd heard much of it before.
Two reasons baseball fans should go see it:
The scenes in the DR, off academy grounds, really put you in the country. A healthy percentage of major league baseball players are Dominican, those of us who consume (and criticize) their product ought to have a sense of where they come from. (There's scene on the malecón, where a waashed-up ballplayer banters with a still-hopeful, that I thought was worth the price of admission.)
The film captures the fear that I imagine common to developing/professional athletes. In the case of the titular character, Sugar, the fear is compounded by his dislocation. Forgetting that, Sugar's success and failure on the mound seem like equal mysteries to him, I don't think he can feel the difference between the mechanics of a good outing or bad. When the stakes are high and the results are public, that must be terrifying, and I thought the film conveyed that.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Steroids: Worldwide
Picked up from baseballdeworld.com. Score another one for the allure of the book contract...
Former Korean League All-Star Ma Hae-young has caused a furor in South Korea with a new, tell-all book claiming that some professional Korean ballplayers have taken steroids in the past.
Former Korean League All-Star Ma Hae-young has caused a furor in South Korea with a new, tell-all book claiming that some professional Korean ballplayers have taken steroids in the past.
Ma, the the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) 2002 Korean Series MVP, wrote that he personally witnessed both Korean and foreign players used performance-enhancing drugs. The accusations have caused a media frenzy in one of the world’s top professional baseball leagues.
KBO officials belied Ma’s claims that its players are using steroids or any other illegal substances.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
On Johan
From the excellent Allen Barra, in the Wall Street Journal:
The hottest party of the year in Tovar, Venezuela, is called "El Cy Youngazo," which roughly translates as "The Great Cy Young." It's held in December, and the host and No. 1 attraction is Johan Santana, the town's native son and the New York Mets' star southpaw.
The hottest party of the year in Tovar, Venezuela, is called "El Cy Youngazo," which roughly translates as "The Great Cy Young." It's held in December, and the host and No. 1 attraction is Johan Santana, the town's native son and the New York Mets' star southpaw.
Venezuelan fires perfect game for Akron
From the Cleveland Plains-Dealer:
Ross Atkins said right-hander Jeanmar Gomez is a good example of how a minor-league system is supposed to work.
Ross Atkins said right-hander Jeanmar Gomez is a good example of how a minor-league system is supposed to work.
When the Indians signed Gomez as a 17-year-old in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2005, he was 6-3 and 168 pounds. When he threw his perfect game Thursday for Class AA Akron, Gomez was almost 6-4 and weighed 202 pounds.
"You get to build a player's delivery, pitches, durability and routine," said Atkins, Indians director of player development.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
New Americans
Here's a different bit of international baseball writing of mine, a short newspaper story about a middle school baseball team in Queens that features players from 9 countries (plus Puerto Rico).
When I.S. 235 baseball coach Jeff Cohen makes out his lineup card, he finds himself choosing between natives of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
When I.S. 235 baseball coach Jeff Cohen makes out his lineup card, he finds himself choosing between natives of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
For the record, that's nine countries, one United States territory and four or five languages; there are also five girls on the team. At that, it might just be the most diverse ball club in Queens, and if the borough is America's most diverse county, what does that make the Astoria middle school's baseball team?
"It's like a family," said Cohen, who lives in Glendale with his wife and son.
Click here for the whole article.Thursday, May 21, 2009
Juan Lara Battling Back After Accident
Here's a really good one from MLB.com, about Juan Lara, a Dominican who pitched for the Indians in 2006, then suffered a terrible car accident after a Dominican Winter League game.
Arangure: Canadians visit DR
Unless you've got an insider account, this link to Jorge Arangure's blog won't do you much good. I don't have an insider account, but I can tell you what it's about: Canada's national program sends teams to the DR to play a series of exhibitions, often against DSL teams.
New documentary
I bought a defective copy of the Republic of Baseball once, and never managed to get my hands on a working copy. Here, a write up of a new documentary out, with a blurb from Vladimir Guerrero: “I was once just like the young men in this film.”
Monday, May 18, 2009
Stockpiling arms?
From last Friday's chat...
Ben Badler: ... I'm not going to comment on any specific prospects here in a chat, on Twitter (@BenBadler) or anywhere else until I write a story about him, for a variety of reasons, which I hop you can understand. I'm happy with but still aiming to improve upon the expanded July 2 coverage we were able to provide BA readers with last year. I've put systems in place to separate signal from all of the noise, hype and spin that goes on with these players, some of which I've already read. I don't care one bit about being first with the latest July 2 rumors. My aim is for you guys to see BA as a trusted source of high-quality information about Latin American prospects, and know that you'll get a high signal-to-noise ratio with information directly from scouts when you read something about a player in BA, just like our draft coverage, which is by far the best in the business.
Ben Badler: ... I'm not going to comment on any specific prospects here in a chat, on Twitter (@BenBadler) or anywhere else until I write a story about him, for a variety of reasons, which I hop you can understand. I'm happy with but still aiming to improve upon the expanded July 2 coverage we were able to provide BA readers with last year. I've put systems in place to separate signal from all of the noise, hype and spin that goes on with these players, some of which I've already read. I don't care one bit about being first with the latest July 2 rumors. My aim is for you guys to see BA as a trusted source of high-quality information about Latin American prospects, and know that you'll get a high signal-to-noise ratio with information directly from scouts when you read something about a player in BA, just like our draft coverage, which is by far the best in the business.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Visa issues trip up clubs, prospects
It’s getting tougher and tougher for Dominican prospects to get visas to travel to the United States, according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler.
In the subscriber only story, Badler quotes Lou Melendez, MLB’s vice president of international baseball operations as follows:
"Previously if you confirmed an individual's identity but not his age, the Consulate was willing to issue him a visa under those circumstances. … But now the problem is that the Consulate requires confirmation of both of those things.”
These new higher standards should trip up some would-be age cheats; of course, part of MLB’s problem in the DR and throughout Latin America has been its difficulty in locating accurate proof of birth. To borrow Badler’s hypothetical, a Dominican boy may not apply for a birth certificate until his family realizes he has a chance to play pro ball; if that boy doesn’t get a birth certificate made out until he’s 13, is he ever going to be granted a visa to play American baseball?
According to Badler, the answer is yes; it just may take longer to get the visa. Perhaps that explains the reports of players detained in the DR this spring.
I've got a couple more thoughts to share on Badler's story, but they'll wait until this afternoon. In the meantime, Badler has done some excellent work on the DSL that you can read without a BA subscription, here and here.
In the subscriber only story, Badler quotes Lou Melendez, MLB’s vice president of international baseball operations as follows:
"Previously if you confirmed an individual's identity but not his age, the Consulate was willing to issue him a visa under those circumstances. … But now the problem is that the Consulate requires confirmation of both of those things.”
These new higher standards should trip up some would-be age cheats; of course, part of MLB’s problem in the DR and throughout Latin America has been its difficulty in locating accurate proof of birth. To borrow Badler’s hypothetical, a Dominican boy may not apply for a birth certificate until his family realizes he has a chance to play pro ball; if that boy doesn’t get a birth certificate made out until he’s 13, is he ever going to be granted a visa to play American baseball?
According to Badler, the answer is yes; it just may take longer to get the visa. Perhaps that explains the reports of players detained in the DR this spring.
I've got a couple more thoughts to share on Badler's story, but they'll wait until this afternoon. In the meantime, Badler has done some excellent work on the DSL that you can read without a BA subscription, here and here.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Afternoon civics
Here's something interesting in Hoy: an initiative to teach history and civics to players at Dominican academies. Great idea, and god speed. Immediately wonder if they plan to include Venezuelans (and Mexicans and Panamanians and etc.) in the classes—which sound like they would focus on the DR—and what that might be like, but it's easy to talk about providing an education to pro ballplayers, another thing to actually do it.
By the way, I'd like to pepper this blog with news and comment generated outside the U.S. I've got a sense of where to look in the Dominican papers, but if anyone wants to recommend a baseball writer from elsewhere in Latin America, please do. I also hope to touch down in other parts of the world on occasion, as time allows...
By the way, I'd like to pepper this blog with news and comment generated outside the U.S. I've got a sense of where to look in the Dominican papers, but if anyone wants to recommend a baseball writer from elsewhere in Latin America, please do. I also hope to touch down in other parts of the world on occasion, as time allows...
¿Castigarán a Ramírez?
Roland Guante wonders if MLB owners will turn their backs on Manny Ramírez, as they have on Barry Bonds, in El Nacional.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Unsigned Dominican prospects suspended: BA
Baseball America is reporting some Dominican prospects have been suspended for misrepresenting their ages, with a promise of more news to come. Better than a year after David Wilder was arrested, it feels like we might be getting closer to understanding what's been going on in the international market. Or not. But any news, and news reporting, is good news at this point...
Monday, May 11, 2009
Job report: a fairer shake for the worldwide draft
It’s a favorite trope among naysayers of the worldwide draft that the Rule 4 draft killed Puerto Rican baseball, just as, the argument follows, a worldwide draft would kill baseball in the rest of Latin America.
No doubt this was an easier story to sell in 2007-08, when the Puerto Rican winter league was on a one-year hiatus, but there’s no question that Puerto Rico has been left in the dust by Caribbean rivals Venezuela and the Dominican Republic since around the time that Puerto Ricans became subject to the Rule 4 draft in 1990.
The above graphs the MLB debuts by players from each of the three countries over the last 30 years, and shows pretty clearly that Puerto Ricans have been left out of the rise of the Latin American influence in pro baseball over the last twenty years.
I think the argument goes that when Puerto Rico became subject to the amateur draft, MLB clubs lost their incentive to develop Puerto Rican amateurs, because they could no longer guarantee they’d control said amateurs pro careers; and, that Puerto Rican amateurs were more or less forced to accept slotted bonuses and so lost some incentive to compete for the higher bonuses they might have earned on the open market. (If it sounds fuzzy to you, it sounds fuzzy to me. I’d be thrilled if someone wanted to better present the argument—particularly if they subscribe to it.)
At any rate, there’s a piece of information that usually gets lost here. To wit, the Dominican Summer League was inaugurated in 1987, with four teams drawn from the property of a larger collection of MLB clubs; it affiliated with MLB in 1991, and currently boasts 37 teams and some 1,200 players. Several MLB clubs have multiple entrants in the DSL, and there’s every reason to believe that the DSL will continue to grow. Meanwhile, since the DSL affiliated in 1991, it has been open to prospects from throughout Latin America—except those hailing from Puerto Rico.
In other words, beginning in 1991, there have been increasingly more baseball playing jobs for Dominicans and Venezuelans than there have been for Puerto Ricans. Moreover, as the DSL came to employ more ballplayers, it also created incentive for the men who—for a percentage of any eventual signing bonuses—train and advise amateur ballplayers until they sign. (And more still, these men have helped increase the number and quality of amateur talent, which is a big part of why the DSL continues to grow.)
And so the Dominican, and more recently, the Venezuelan presence in the big leagues has exploded, while Puerto Ricans are represented at about the same level as they were 30 years ago.
All of this to say that while the Rule 4 draft has affected Puerto Rican baseball, it is primarily by aligning it with the North American developmental system as opposed to the Latin American system. Meanwhile, assuming that the DSL would continue to exist in its present form, there’s no reason to think that a worldwide draft would have the same effect on Latin American baseball. The clubs have invested in Latin American academies, and the return on the investment has been good. They have built the capacity and there’s no reason to think that they won’t continue to fill it.
Which is not to say that a worldwide draft is necessarily a good idea. I’ll be back with some better arguments against it later in the week.
No doubt this was an easier story to sell in 2007-08, when the Puerto Rican winter league was on a one-year hiatus, but there’s no question that Puerto Rico has been left in the dust by Caribbean rivals Venezuela and the Dominican Republic since around the time that Puerto Ricans became subject to the Rule 4 draft in 1990.
The above graphs the MLB debuts by players from each of the three countries over the last 30 years, and shows pretty clearly that Puerto Ricans have been left out of the rise of the Latin American influence in pro baseball over the last twenty years.
I think the argument goes that when Puerto Rico became subject to the amateur draft, MLB clubs lost their incentive to develop Puerto Rican amateurs, because they could no longer guarantee they’d control said amateurs pro careers; and, that Puerto Rican amateurs were more or less forced to accept slotted bonuses and so lost some incentive to compete for the higher bonuses they might have earned on the open market. (If it sounds fuzzy to you, it sounds fuzzy to me. I’d be thrilled if someone wanted to better present the argument—particularly if they subscribe to it.)
At any rate, there’s a piece of information that usually gets lost here. To wit, the Dominican Summer League was inaugurated in 1987, with four teams drawn from the property of a larger collection of MLB clubs; it affiliated with MLB in 1991, and currently boasts 37 teams and some 1,200 players. Several MLB clubs have multiple entrants in the DSL, and there’s every reason to believe that the DSL will continue to grow. Meanwhile, since the DSL affiliated in 1991, it has been open to prospects from throughout Latin America—except those hailing from Puerto Rico.
In other words, beginning in 1991, there have been increasingly more baseball playing jobs for Dominicans and Venezuelans than there have been for Puerto Ricans. Moreover, as the DSL came to employ more ballplayers, it also created incentive for the men who—for a percentage of any eventual signing bonuses—train and advise amateur ballplayers until they sign. (And more still, these men have helped increase the number and quality of amateur talent, which is a big part of why the DSL continues to grow.)
And so the Dominican, and more recently, the Venezuelan presence in the big leagues has exploded, while Puerto Ricans are represented at about the same level as they were 30 years ago.
All of this to say that while the Rule 4 draft has affected Puerto Rican baseball, it is primarily by aligning it with the North American developmental system as opposed to the Latin American system. Meanwhile, assuming that the DSL would continue to exist in its present form, there’s no reason to think that a worldwide draft would have the same effect on Latin American baseball. The clubs have invested in Latin American academies, and the return on the investment has been good. They have built the capacity and there’s no reason to think that they won’t continue to fill it.
Which is not to say that a worldwide draft is necessarily a good idea. I’ll be back with some better arguments against it later in the week.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
BPro joining the fray
Looks like Kiley McDaniel, formerly of SaberScouting, is going to be reporting on the Latin American market for Baseball Prospectus, which I expect will be a very good thing. While I'm at it, Jorge Aranguré has been asking very, very smart questions on his Latin Baseball Blog, La Esquina, at ESPN. I think it's usually Insider only, and navigating ESPN.com can be a nightmare, but Aranguré is worth the finding...
Friday, May 8, 2009
Manny cayó
Trolling for Dominican reactions to the Manny Ramírez suspension. In Listin Diario, Dominican baseball executives lament the fall of Ramírez and more generally, the temptation toward steroid use. Hoy columnist Franklin Mirabal says he's not surprised to hear the news about Manny, and that we need to know who is on the list of 103 if we're going to put the greater problem to rest. El Caribe and El Nacional had AP stories but no commentary online when I checked (at any rate, I didn't find anything at quick glance).
I'll be back later with more in this vein...
I'll be back later with more in this vein...
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Good guys?
"It's a third-world country and people are desperate, and I understand that. The challenge in my job is making sure that we do things right."
Rolando Fernandez, Colorado Rockies Director of International Relations from last weekend's Denver Post.
The daily newspapers do a nice job when they foray into Dominican baseball, though I always wish they'd go deeper--in this case, it would be nice to know just what doing things right entails...
(I've been laid up with a touch of swine flu--ok, maybe just a cold--should get back up to speed here soon...)
Rolando Fernandez, Colorado Rockies Director of International Relations from last weekend's Denver Post.
The daily newspapers do a nice job when they foray into Dominican baseball, though I always wish they'd go deeper--in this case, it would be nice to know just what doing things right entails...
(I've been laid up with a touch of swine flu--ok, maybe just a cold--should get back up to speed here soon...)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Mets salary by birthplace
I counted Sheffield's $14 million here, even though the Mets aren't paying it. Takahashi is up (right?) so maybe he should have a higher number...
A visit to the Nationals Dominican academy in San Cristobol
When I spoke with him last June, Jose Baez was in his fourth year running the Nationals Dominican academy at Loma del Sueño in San Cristobol. It was the morning after a big rainstorm, and the day’s Dominican Summer League (DSL) games were canceled. I spoke to Baez in a small office where players waited on line to file documents in anticipation of receiving their first paychecks of the season. (Typically, players stay at the academies all year, but only receive pay during the DSL season.)
I wanted to include my interview with Baez in my long article on Dominican baseball in Triple Canopy, which you can read here. Then Bowden and Rijo were fired while I was in the middle of my last edit, and it seemed like a bit of a red herring to have Baez in the middle of the story without any allusion to unfolding events.
Baez signed professionally out of the DR in 1972, and played 114 games for the Seattle Mariners in 1977-78. He continued playing professionally, in the U.S. and DR, until 1987. In 1993, he took a job in the U.S. as a minor league instructor for the Twins organization, and has worked out of Dominican academies since 1997.
Some excerpts from the interview, here:
Can you tell me about July 2?
People in baseball make it a big day because most of the players that sign that day are going to get big money. That doesn’t mean if you don’t sign that day you can’t sign in September, October, November. … We don’t have a lot of guys who are going to get big money. You can count them on two hands and maybe have two fingers left.
Those are guys that when you look at them, you’re going to compare them to people that the organization picked in the U.S. draft. For example, Ynoa, whoever signs Ynoa, they know for sure that they’re taking a first round guy. …
A lot of the time it depends on who has the players. If you are a no-name guy (adviser), nobody is going to make a big deal out of the guy that you have. So if you are a top guy with a prospect, then you’re going to get a lot of money for your guy. But if you are a no-name guy, forget about it.
What is the adjustment like for a kid who comes to play for you here?
I think I do this differently than everyone else. Before we sign a player we have them here at the academy for at least two weeks before we sign them. They walk around with the teams and do what everybody else does, so that by the time they sign they know what’s going on. …
In particular it’s very hard for the ones from Venezuela, because they’re very far from their homes. We have every Sunday off here. The rest of the guys they go home on Saturday afternoon and come back Sunday night. But the Venezuelans stay here. I try to come on Saturday or on Sunday to see how they’re doing. If they need anything, I try to get it for them. If they want to go out I say go ahead, go to town. …
I was 18 the first time I went to the United States. I didn’t speak any English. There was one other guy who spoke Spanish, but then I was sent down to Rookie ball, in Utah. So I know what it’s like.
What about when you have to cut a player?
That’s part of it. If you’re a doctor and you have a surgery, ok, something went wrong, and your patient dies. Next time, same thing. What are they going to do? They’re going to suspend your license. Here, it’s the same. You’re allowed to keep a kid for four years now, but why wait so long? If in two years you don’t show you can play for me, that you can’t compete, we have to get someone else. It’s an industry, if you don’t produce, I have to get somebody else. …
I got boys that were released form another organization. And what I do, before I sign them, I tell them ok, make sure you show those people that released you they made a mistake.
I wanted to include my interview with Baez in my long article on Dominican baseball in Triple Canopy, which you can read here. Then Bowden and Rijo were fired while I was in the middle of my last edit, and it seemed like a bit of a red herring to have Baez in the middle of the story without any allusion to unfolding events.
Baez signed professionally out of the DR in 1972, and played 114 games for the Seattle Mariners in 1977-78. He continued playing professionally, in the U.S. and DR, until 1987. In 1993, he took a job in the U.S. as a minor league instructor for the Twins organization, and has worked out of Dominican academies since 1997.
Some excerpts from the interview, here:
Can you tell me about July 2?
People in baseball make it a big day because most of the players that sign that day are going to get big money. That doesn’t mean if you don’t sign that day you can’t sign in September, October, November. … We don’t have a lot of guys who are going to get big money. You can count them on two hands and maybe have two fingers left.
Those are guys that when you look at them, you’re going to compare them to people that the organization picked in the U.S. draft. For example, Ynoa, whoever signs Ynoa, they know for sure that they’re taking a first round guy. …
A lot of the time it depends on who has the players. If you are a no-name guy (adviser), nobody is going to make a big deal out of the guy that you have. So if you are a top guy with a prospect, then you’re going to get a lot of money for your guy. But if you are a no-name guy, forget about it.
What is the adjustment like for a kid who comes to play for you here?
I think I do this differently than everyone else. Before we sign a player we have them here at the academy for at least two weeks before we sign them. They walk around with the teams and do what everybody else does, so that by the time they sign they know what’s going on. …
In particular it’s very hard for the ones from Venezuela, because they’re very far from their homes. We have every Sunday off here. The rest of the guys they go home on Saturday afternoon and come back Sunday night. But the Venezuelans stay here. I try to come on Saturday or on Sunday to see how they’re doing. If they need anything, I try to get it for them. If they want to go out I say go ahead, go to town. …
I was 18 the first time I went to the United States. I didn’t speak any English. There was one other guy who spoke Spanish, but then I was sent down to Rookie ball, in Utah. So I know what it’s like.
What about when you have to cut a player?
That’s part of it. If you’re a doctor and you have a surgery, ok, something went wrong, and your patient dies. Next time, same thing. What are they going to do? They’re going to suspend your license. Here, it’s the same. You’re allowed to keep a kid for four years now, but why wait so long? If in two years you don’t show you can play for me, that you can’t compete, we have to get someone else. It’s an industry, if you don’t produce, I have to get somebody else. …
I got boys that were released form another organization. And what I do, before I sign them, I tell them ok, make sure you show those people that released you they made a mistake.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Mapping the NL East
I've been wanting better data on international players for some time now, and inspired by TucsonRoyal's post at BtB a couple weeks ago I decided to get my hands dirty.
I’m working with 40-man roster data from MLB.com and salary info from Cot's. If MLB said a player was born in New York, I counted him as American, even if he was signed out of Latin America; likewise, I'm counting a player as foreign-born regardless of where he signed. What to do with Puerto Rico? I'm counting it as a foreign country for convenience sake, if someone wants to talk me out of that I'm open.
Overall, I counted 66 foreign-born players out of 194, or just over one-third. Some tidbits: the Braves are repping nine countries, more than any other team here; the Marlins lead the division in Canadians, with two, the Phillies lead in Australians, with three, and the Nationals are tops in players from the Netherlands Antilles, also with two; three of four Mets catchers hail from Puerto Rico. I also counted nine Hispanic-Americans in the division: at least, I think. I'm interested in keeping track of this, though haven't had a chance to check Matt Chico's or Ricky Nolasco's biographies.
I hope to move through the divisions in weeks and months to come: it took me a stupid amount of time, though, so I'll probably exploit my NL East data a few more times before I move on.
(I compiled the data by copying MLB.com's 40-man rosters into a spreadsheet, than clicking on every player's name to check their birthplace. If anyone wants to suggest a better way of compiling the data, please (please) let me know...)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Dropping the B word
If you’ve driven in the Dominican Republic you’ve met men like him: perhaps he guided you into a space in an empty parking lot and promised to look after your car, or else appeared after you’d parked to lay a swath of cardboard over your windshield. You probably tipped him, although he didn’t really do much of anything. You might properly describe this guy as a buscón.I intend to do a series of pieces on cleaning up the Latin American market, and I think it’s useful to begin here, as I’ve heard intelligent, well-informed reporters broach the possibility of “getting rid of the buscones.” A better start may be to get rid of the term buscón.
In my experience, the only Dominicans who use the word are past or present employees of the American baseball industry. When your man on the street wants to talk about the men who scout, train, and negotiate on behalf of amateur baseball players, they typically use respectful phrases like trainer, coach, or adviser. (When Ynoa signed last July 2, one Santo Domingo newspaper went so far as to describe Edgar Mercedes as Ynoa’s mentor.)
Meanwhile, when baseball people use the word, they tend to do so derisively. The derision may be rooted in the days when Dominican prospects rarely earned even five-figure bonuses, when the advisers were working for something closer to tip money. I also understand it hierarchically: the club employees are insiders and like to remind everyone that the advisers are not.
But the bonuses paid to Latin American prospects have exploded, and the advisers have become increasingly professional. While they have been in the middle of the scandals that periodically shake the baseball world, they perform two absolutely vital functions: They train young athletes, helping them develop the skills and physicality to play pro baseball, and they negotiate with clubs on behalf of the prospects. You might as well get rid of high school baseball coaches and player-agents.
For fifty or so years Latin America has been the Wild West of baseball’s talent market, and cleaning it up is going to mean establishing structure where there has been little. Doing so will not be easy, and MLB will need what help it can get. It would be wise to recognize advisers as partners, rather than annoyances: as men who care deeply for the boys that they train, and who are heavily invested in the success of the Latin American game.
(Photo: Advisers watching a tryout at Baseball City. They were a nervous bunch, toyed with their cell phones incessantly and mostly did not talk to each other. As a group, they gave off the vibe of sports, or hustlers. And yet I found the advisers I met possessing of deep and solemn concern for the well-being of their players.)
Monday, April 27, 2009
More on the Jim Bowden/Esmailyn González affair
I heard quite a rumor through the grapevine the other day, to wit that Jim Bowden and front-office types in other organizations may have made up Dominican prospects, signed them, and pocketed the bonuses.
That is, as I understand the rumor, they would have filed scouting reports on boys who did not exist so that they could embezzle cash from their employers. So long as the bonuses they assigned to these fictional prospects were small enough, they could simply stash the imaginary prospects in their Dominican academies and let the fictional players wash out after a couple of years.
The scheme tickles my funny bone—but then, I had no 401k to speak of when the economy tanked—and while I can’t substantiate it, I think it’s worth publishing for what it says about the murky Latin American talent market.
Two things I take from the rumor:
The bonus-skimming scandal is not the simple victimization story that it is sometimes portrayed as, and it is bigger and more complicated than we understand. While I don’t doubt that some advisors (I prefer not to use the pejorative buscones) rob or otherwise misuse their charges, it seems to me that the heart of the scandal is that FOTs and Dominican advisors have been inflating bonuses for the express purpose of skimming. If that’s the case, to what degree are the prospects victims?
The Esmailyn González affair makes a useful example: the most telling aspect of that story is not that the boy and his advisor lied about the prospect’s name and birth date, but that when the Nationals inked the player for $1.4 million, they reportedly doubled González’ next highest offer. To speculate, if González (now known as Carlos Lugo) did not receive the entire $1.4 million (minus his advisor’s take), has he been ripped off? I think it’s more accurate to say that he’s been used to rip off the Nationals.
(Meanwhile, the Nationals and the rest of the MLB clubs are invested in the Dominican Republic because, in addition to the exceptionally talented ballplayers to be found there, the DR is a developing country, and its economic conditions have allowed MLB clubs to mine talent more cheaply there than they can in the U.S. After many years of signing superstars for $10,000 bonuses, it’s hard to feel too sorry for MLB clubs now.)
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