Comments on: Is The MLB Ready For Another Scandal?

By: erichansa

erichansa — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:03:10 +0000

Baseball: the forgotten sport.

By: local

local — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:37:03 +0000

This article is extremely misleading. Yes, it is wrong for the MLB scouts to be trimming off the top of the bonuses given to the players they are scouting. This I completely agree with, and everyone involved should be fired, and whatever legal action that can be taken should be.

However, I notice some undertones and jabs at players being “SCAMMED” because their bonuses do not represent their skill or ability. These players are extremely young, and many of them will NEVER reach the major leagues. These bonuses (usually hundreds of thousands of dollars or more) represent a life time worth of work in the Dominican. I’m not sure if the numbers, but I could imagine that it would take decades to earn a $100,000 down there. It’s a win-win, the MLB organizations get to sign and develop quality young players for a lot less money compared to if they developed american born talent, and the players get more money than they, or anyone in their family has ever seen.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:21:59 +0000

This stuff was on espn and other news sources months ago. Congrats on catching up. It’s not a scandal; just unethical. Business as usual.

By: Joe Z

Joe Z — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:11:39 +0000

Teams spending exorbitant amounts of money on unproven talents in Latin America and the Caribbean is not necessarily a scandal, but mostly represents desperate scouting programs or poor management.

This is shady, to be sure, but there’s nothing stopping teams from paying Joe Schmoe a $5 million dollar signing bonus sight-unseen. If it doesn’t work out the team’s just out $5 million and gets a bad reputation for developing “talent.”

Scouts coercing money from the same players they were sent to sign is more troubling – it’s an indication of how slimy scouts can be and should also send a message to ownership to get these programs under control.

I would hope the league office and the player’s association would investigate these claims and if proven true, pressure teams put a stop to these shady practices.

However, we don’t know all the facts (allegations of one scout that seem plausible aren’t enough to paint the whole picture), and until we do, I think we’d be jumping the gun to call this an industry-crushing scandal on par with Tim Donaghy’s betting on basketball games he officiates or the steroid woes of baseball.

By: Ribbie3b

Ribbie3b — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:54:35 +0000

The picture is of Dominican Michael Almanzar who was signed for 3.3 million dollars around the same time as Kelvin DeLeon.

Should have specified…

By: Red

Red — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:48:49 +0000

Why do you have a picture of a Red Sox player when the story has nothing to do with the organization?

Incredibly misleading…

By: Ribbie3b

Ribbie3b — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:37:59 +0000

He obviously has too much time on his hands. He can’t understand why his comments are moderated….Thanks Roy!

By: Roy

Roy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:35:51 +0000

How can someone complain about another person’s grammar by saying, “You grammar is terrible.”

Honestly. Read the article, enjoy the work that went into it, and go on about your day without insult.

By: Horatio

Horatio — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:34:59 +0000

Learn how to write a good article. Or take this one off and have someone proof it. Also, your not funny – stick to the news. Leave the jokes to comedians.

By: Horatio

Horatio — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:33:16 +0000

Good article, I learned alot. Keep up the good work!