Fixing Dominican Republic Baseball

Recent scandals involving the Nationals and possibly over 40 other players have been newsworthy. Now: how do we fix this?

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Dominican baseball scandals cost 1990 World Series hero Jose Rijo his job. How can we fix this?

1. International Draft

Why it works: An international draft would help slot players into a specified bonus amount, like the American draft, and at the same time would allow teams to more evenly compete for players.

Why it doesn't work: Firstly, there is no infrastructure of organized baseball in which to scout amateur Dominican players. Therefore teams would often be putting players into a specified bonus slot even though they weren't sure if they were first, second or third round talent, which might actually work to increase bonuses. Secondly, some teams don't want to give up the scouting advantages they've created in the Dominican. Thirdly, and most importantly, an international draft would not help solve the basic problems of age manipulation or other such improprieties.

2. Eliminate the Buscones

Why it works: Some have argued that without buscones, teams can more easily acquire players without any of the improprieties that plague the system. An alternative would be to simply require the buscones to register with either the government or Major League Baseball.

Why it doesn't work: Without buscones, the whole amateur system may fail because there may be no one willing to take on the responsibilities of training young players. Recently, Frank Herasme, president of the Dominican amateur basketball federation, criticized the Dominican government for failing to fund youth basketball, which has crippled the sport. The same could happen with baseball as the government struggles with vast economic problems. The International Baseball Federation recently ranked the Dominican only 17th in the world, which speaks to the sad state of amateur organized baseball in the country.

3. International Salary Cap

Why it works: Since the Players Association has no involvement in Dominican amateur market, baseball can enact a salary cap to keep bonus amounts down.

Why it doesn't work: Says one international scouting director, "Good luck trying to get 30 teams to agree on anything. You think the Red Sox or the Yankees want a salary cap?"

4. Create a larger Dominican office

Why it works: Some sources have suggested that MLB should expand its staff in the Dominican office so that there is one person per team.

Why it doesn't work: Expanding the office to at least 30 people would almost triple the cost. Secondly, one baseball source speculated that many teams don't want more regulation. By keeping the system as it is, low market teams can cut illegal side deals with buscones to have access to players that would mostly sign with big market teams under a fully regulated system.

5. Raise the signing age from 16 to 18

Why it works: Raising the signing age would eliminate some of the pressure for kids, some of whom aren't fully developed at 16, to alter their ages. Currently the system penalizes players who sign at 18 years of age for less money than their 16-year-old counterparts.

Why it doesn't work: Lou Melendez, MLB's vice president of international operations, said this option is actually being considered.

6. Help organize the buscones

Why it works: A buscone union could help in eliminating improprieties and also help organize an amateur teen league to help scouts properly evaluate players.

Why it doesn't work: Remember what the scouting director said about trying to get teams to agree on things? Same thing applies with buscones.

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