NewsWhore
03-11-2010, 03:30 PM
The New York Times interviewed Sandy Alderson, a former vice president of Major League Baseball, recently appointed consultant to Major League Baseball, who is now focusing reforming the sport's operations in the DR. 10% of all MLB players are from the DR, that is recognized for providing some of the biggest names in the game.
Alderson has now been entrusted to find ways to resolve issues involving the largely unregulated youth feeder system in which the use of performance-enhancing drugs; age and identity fraud; and rogue sports agents is commonplace.
"This is not about someone coming down here and breaking all the china and pointing a finger," Alderson said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "It's really a commitment to get this all figured out and do it in a way that leaves baseball and the Dominican Republic in a better position."
Alderson was asked to report on how the Dominican talent pipeline to the majors could be revamped in the wake of embarrassing disclosures that the Dominican Summer League had the highest rate of positive drug tests in baseball and that teams had awarded multimillion-dollar signing bonuses to players who were, in fact, much older than they claimed to be, says The New York Times.
The newspaper report says that MLB is especially suspicious of the role of the independent scouts who train young players until they can sign as professionals at age 16. The scouts, known here as "buscones," often demand half of players' signing bonuses from teams and have been known to advise players on taking performance-enhancing drugs as well as lying about their age in order to be more attractive prospects.
"It's not a one-way street; these are mutual problems that have to be dealt with comprehensively," Alderson said. "Not all the problems originate with the Dominican Republic and the buscones. There are people on the team side who are playing a role in aiding this."
Alderson announced he would be looking into restructuring Major League Baseball's office in Santo Domingo. He wants more supervision of scouts and executives of major league teams doing business in the country and to expand educational programs informing players about the perils of performance-enhancing drugs.
He also said MLB would create its own youth baseball program in the country.
Alderson told TNYT he would try to strike the right tone when he speaks with members of the news media, government officials and business leaders. "We have to be good corporate citizens here," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/sports/baseball/11dominican.html?th&emc=th
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
Alderson has now been entrusted to find ways to resolve issues involving the largely unregulated youth feeder system in which the use of performance-enhancing drugs; age and identity fraud; and rogue sports agents is commonplace.
"This is not about someone coming down here and breaking all the china and pointing a finger," Alderson said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "It's really a commitment to get this all figured out and do it in a way that leaves baseball and the Dominican Republic in a better position."
Alderson was asked to report on how the Dominican talent pipeline to the majors could be revamped in the wake of embarrassing disclosures that the Dominican Summer League had the highest rate of positive drug tests in baseball and that teams had awarded multimillion-dollar signing bonuses to players who were, in fact, much older than they claimed to be, says The New York Times.
The newspaper report says that MLB is especially suspicious of the role of the independent scouts who train young players until they can sign as professionals at age 16. The scouts, known here as "buscones," often demand half of players' signing bonuses from teams and have been known to advise players on taking performance-enhancing drugs as well as lying about their age in order to be more attractive prospects.
"It's not a one-way street; these are mutual problems that have to be dealt with comprehensively," Alderson said. "Not all the problems originate with the Dominican Republic and the buscones. There are people on the team side who are playing a role in aiding this."
Alderson announced he would be looking into restructuring Major League Baseball's office in Santo Domingo. He wants more supervision of scouts and executives of major league teams doing business in the country and to expand educational programs informing players about the perils of performance-enhancing drugs.
He also said MLB would create its own youth baseball program in the country.
Alderson told TNYT he would try to strike the right tone when he speaks with members of the news media, government officials and business leaders. "We have to be good corporate citizens here," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/sports/baseball/11dominican.html?th&emc=th
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)