Before reading the “Fields of Broken Dreams: Latinos and Baseball” article, I didn’t realize just how many Latino players are in the MLB, and that so many of them come from overwhelming poverty. I also didn’t realize how underreported and exploited Latino players in the major leagues are. According to Bretón (2000), Major League Baseball teams “sign a boatload of Latinos for little money and if only a couple make it to the big leagues, teams still come out ahead. Instead of signing four [American] guys at $25,000 each, you sign 20 [Dominican] guys for $5,000 each.” Everyone then says the justification for this is that these players from third world countries who were in great poverty have the chance to escape that. Bretón (2000) states “baseball gives them a way out, a chance to get paid, eat regularly, sleep in clean beds, and, for the very best, a crack at fame and fortune.” I agree that baseball may have been the only way for some of these players to pull themselves out of poverty, but I don’t think it is right for the MLB to sign the Latino ballplayers for so little when they are bettering their teams so much. According to Bretón (2000), “90 to 95 percent of Latino players signed to contracts never reach the big leagues. The vast majority never get a chance to play in the U.S., not even in the minor leagues. And all but a few of those brought to the U.S. are released without ever playing major league ball.” Also, when I read about Miguel Tejada, I found it amazing that growing up he had to go through all of the things that he did. Miguel Tejada is an incredible rags to riches story.
I believe giving the Latin players the opportunity to get out of poverty is great. Although the Latin players aren't getting as much as the American players, they benefit in other ways. I do believe that the MLB should set a minimum signing amount for all players. This would eliminate some the issues on exploitation.
ReplyDeleteKyle,
ReplyDeleteWhile I was somewhat familiar with the poor economic conditions many of the Latino baseball players experience in their home country, I had not really stopped to think about what a shock it is for them to come to the United States alone at a fairly young age. Not only must they prove themselves athletically to progress up through the ranks if they want to play professional ball, they must also learn/improve their English and figure out how to live day-to-day in a foreign country. The article’s reference to “sign a boatload of Latinos for little money and if only a couple make it to the big leagues, teams still come out ahead. Instead of signing four [American] guys at $25,000 each, you sign 20 [Dominican] guys for $5,000 each” was a bit concerning. It almost sounds like there is no sensitivity to the fact that these are people that are being impacted by this process. I agree that I do not think it is appropriate to sign these players for so much less money. If their sports abilities are on par with the American athlete’s whose contracts are for a much larger amount, then they should be compensated similarly. In the media, they tend to focus on the few players who actually succeed and not the many that come to the United States with high hopes and end up falling short of their dream.