Next, I want to highlight some of the specific challenges foreign-born players face on their way to MLB. These challenges are nothing like their American counterparts and could affect their performance when they enter the Big Leagues.
An academic paper written by Arturo Marcano and David Fidler in 1999 discusses the mistreatment of Latin American baseball players during the signing and recruiting process. Often, these players are so poor that they take any contract put in front of them and do not realize that their American counterparts are getting paid a lot more than they are. The competition for talent in Latin America is so intense that some scouts actually pay little league coaches for monthly reports on their players. When teams find talented players in Latin America, they hold them in baseball academies until visas can be obtained. …show more content…
According to the article, Venezuela has little to know laws regarding underage talent. MLB has exploited this and has not promoted any regulations to reduce poor and unethical practices. For example, in the author’s experience, MLB teams give players and their families complex contracts in English not in Spanish. In Venezuela this is illegal, but it still happens anyway. Also, it is common for agents or scouts to take 10-20% of the signing bonus in Latin America compared to the 5% maximum they receive in the United States. In addition, the academies that house young foreign talent often lack proper medical facilities and release players when they get hurt. In Venezuela it is illegal to fire someone due to an injury but again MLB neglects another nation’s regulations (Vargas 2000). In some Latin American countries baseball is more popular than soccer. MLB needs to treat these fans and players with respect if it hopes to grow into a more successful sport and
An academic paper written by Arturo Marcano and David Fidler in 1999 discusses the mistreatment of Latin American baseball players during the signing and recruiting process. Often, these players are so poor that they take any contract put in front of them and do not realize that their American counterparts are getting paid a lot more than they are. The competition for talent in Latin America is so intense that some scouts actually pay little league coaches for monthly reports on their players. When teams find talented players in Latin America, they hold them in baseball academies until visas can be obtained. …show more content…
According to the article, Venezuela has little to know laws regarding underage talent. MLB has exploited this and has not promoted any regulations to reduce poor and unethical practices. For example, in the author’s experience, MLB teams give players and their families complex contracts in English not in Spanish. In Venezuela this is illegal, but it still happens anyway. Also, it is common for agents or scouts to take 10-20% of the signing bonus in Latin America compared to the 5% maximum they receive in the United States. In addition, the academies that house young foreign talent often lack proper medical facilities and release players when they get hurt. In Venezuela it is illegal to fire someone due to an injury but again MLB neglects another nation’s regulations (Vargas 2000). In some Latin American countries baseball is more popular than soccer. MLB needs to treat these fans and players with respect if it hopes to grow into a more successful sport and