The Business of Dominican Baseball
With Steve Fainaru
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 22, 2001; 1 p.m. EDT

In his June 17 article, "The Business of Building Baseball Players," Washington Post staff writer Steve Fainaru recounts the high-stakes world of developing major league prospects in the Dominican Republic, the homeland of an extraordinary number of top players. Fainaru uncovered the story of how one promising shortstop never saw most of a lucrative $1.4 million bonus that he was supposed to receive for signing a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A local talent scout, known as a "buscone," apparently pocketed much of the money.

Fainaru was online Friday, June 22, to talk about how this system works, why there are abuses and what can be done about it.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

washingtonpost.com: Washington, DC
I can't believe that Major League Baseball and the Players Association aren't going to do something about the type of abuses you reported. Can they really take such a handsoff position?

Steve Fainaru: Major League Baseball in many ways wants it both ways. They distance themselves from the "buscones" responsible for the abuses but use them to get players. The Players Association doesn't deal with players who are not under major league contract. That is, they are more concerned with Alex Rodriguez' $252 million contract than a 16-year-old Dominican kid who is not part of the union.

washingtonpost.com: Our discussion will get underway shortly.

Herndon, Va.: Great article!! Any chance the U.S. Goverment could get involved - the FBI, Immigration? Grounds - I don't know, improper treatment of minors?

Steve Fainaru: Many thanks. The U.S. govt. only involves itself in the process when it comes to issuing visas. It's possible that if things got really out of hand the State Dept. could cut back on the number of visas it issues to the teams (they currently get 30-35 a year). Most people agree that the Post article was the tip of the iceberg, but so far it's being treated as an internal baseball matter.

washingtonpost.com: What has been the reaction in the Dominican Republic to your piece?

Steve Fainaru: It's been a national scandal -- all over the newspapers, with many people crying out for reforms. Baseball is so huge in the Dominican that something like this really hits a nerve.

washingtonpost.com: What makes you say that your story is the "tip of the iceberg?"

Steve Fainaru: the stories about these kinds of abuses are legion -- and the entire system is unregulated. every scout you talk to has a story about a kid getting ripped off or some other impropriety. one scout i talked to received death threats from a street agent who was extorting money from a kid. outside a stadium recently, one street agent stabbed another over the rights to a prospect. it's an unregulated, cutthroat business.

since this scandal, the dominican baseball commissioner has said he intends to clean it up. but he has not been specific. there is some talk of at least registering the buscones, the street guys responsible for much of the abuses.

New York, NY: Exclnt article. My question: why don't the big Dominican stars like Sosa do something to help the next generation?

Steve Fainaru: thanks. that's a really good question. i think part of it is that the system is really a culture that's existed for years. sosa signed at 16 for $3,500 --- with no one except his mother representing him. the teams have created this system that works to their advantage. the players are often too young and too uneducated to know that they could do better; $3,500 is an immense amount of money down there and so most of the players are grateful to sign. it perpetuates itself.

Washington, D.C: I have heard that Major League Baseball just recently established an office in Santo Domingo in part to keep tabs on the Academies/scouting system. Did you talk to and/or investigate the efforts being made by MLB's DR office?

Steve Fainaru: Yes. MLB has an office that's run out of a house in downtown Santo Domingo. It is manned by a bright former player named Rafael Perez. But his resources, relative to the growth of the industry in Latin America and the abuses, are very small. He is essentially one man responsible for policing an entire industry. It's very difficult, if not impossible.

Vienna, Va.: Has there been any outlook or help from the national association of baseball league, (don't know the exact title), to take out any scrutinies in signing on players? Who and where are the current scouts?

Steve Fainaru: There is a lawyer in Indianapolis who has formed the International Baseball Organization, a sort of watchdog agency for Latin players. He is trying to address some of these issues. The National Association, which governs the minor leagues, has not gotten involved, except in the running of the Dominican Summer League, which is part of minor-league baseball.

That's really the problem: there is very little power behind the players, representing their interests and needs. Again, the Major League Players Union refuses to help protect these players because they are technically not part of the union.

Washington, D.C.: The Dominicans are known to be distrustful of the U.S. and Major League Baseball trying to exert influence in their nation. Does the "Yankee Hegemony" problem that has marked U.S.-D.R. relations figure into the MLB-D.R. relations?

Steve Fainaru: Very much so. It's a huge issue. For example, MLB has been trying to establish a draft in the Dominican and has been met with considerable backlash. The Dominican baseball commissioner is on record saying that MLB is trying to control the flow of Dominican players into the game, to prevent them from supplanting Americans.

Washington D.C.: Has Major League Baseball ever tried to disclipline wrongdoing? Once such instance, of course, was the suspension of the Dodgers Academy over the sigining of Andre Beltre under age. Has the Dodgers suspension had any teeth, esp. in light of the Soto scandal?

Steve Fainaru: My feeling is no, the Beltre decision did not have much effect. The problems -- underage signings, guys like Soto, overcharging -- are still rampant. One indication is the Dodgers themselves. The team has been penalized four times in the last two years, with fines and suspensions, as you point out. They have complained loudly -- not because they didn't commit infractions, but because everyone else is doing the same thing.

Vienna, Va.: Will Ayber ever get to see what is due to him? Any financial justice?
BTW, Great photo galleries!

Steve Fainaru: The photos, by Michael Robinson-Chavez, were indeed awesome. . . .The latest is that Soto has offered Aybar and his family about 2 million Dominican pesos, $125,000, to settle. The family seems ready to accept it. To many people, including me, this is somewhat perverse: He is essentially offering Aybar his own money as a settlement, and as others have pointed out, much of that money is interest on the money he originally pocketed. MLB's reaction so far has been: "What about the other $350,000?"

Soto was brought in for questioning by the Dominican baseball commissioner this morning. We'll see what happens.

Washington, D.C.: What books on DR baseball would you recommend, partiularly on the history of Dominican baseball?

Steve Fainaru: The Tropic of Baseball, by Rob Ruck, is a very good history.

Away Games, by Marcos Breton, is also very good and casts Enrique Soto in a completely different light: as the savior to young ballplayers.

El Beisbol -- by Michael Oleksak, is also very good, more a survey of Latin baseball.

Arlington, Va.: Steve,
It's so sad and not fair! I mean, these new kids just want to make a life and give back to their homeland! I thought the biscones were supposed to help their people, not steal from them!

Steve Fainaru: You're right. And in many cases it's obvious these kids are incapable of defending themselves. It's a classic case of the tensions that arise in a big-money industry with zero regulation.

I think MLB realizes that it's something they have to step into. Like any multinational corporation these days, they have to be held accountable.

washingtonpost.com: Our time is up. Our thanks to Steve Fainaru for answering questions today.

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