International players are often signed by Major League Baseball teams at a young age. International players are under less restrictions than Americans when it comes to being signed by teams. The Dominican Republic and Venezuela have young players. This has been standard practice in MLB for a long time, but now it could be coming back to bite the Los Angeles Angels.
Two Dominican prospects are followed in this story. The two players agreed to deals to play for the Angels a few years ago. Less than a month before the international signing date, representatives for the team informed Faas and Pavon that they were not going to sign with them.
There wasn't a written agreement between the two players. If there wasn't a video floating around of the agreement being made between the Angels and Pavon, it would be hard to prove it.
There are broken deals in baseball contract settings. Several big-name players have turned down previous offers in order to get a better deal with another team. The Dominican Republic law values verbal contracts more than the US justice system does. The video of Pavon agreeing to terms with the Angels could cause trouble for the Angels overseas.
MLB would change if a D.R. judge ruled that the contracts were binding. If something were to happen to the foreign player, teams would be less likely to give them anything.
This is great news and I think it's good. The judge might find those contracts binding. It would prevent MLB teams from exploiting young children before they reach their teens. It would make MLB closer to an international draft. While a deal between MLB and the MLB Players' Association has not been reached, there were talks of introducing a draft earlier this year. For a long time, it was a non-negotiable for the players.
MLB teams were able to recruit younger and younger players from countries that produce elite talent because they knew how much money they would have to spend internationally in the future. The effect that people have on young talent in their home countries is limited by an international draft. Trainers would give their children performance enhancing drugs at a young age in order to get them to sign with a team. Trainers would package high-end talents with lower-end players in order to make them seem better trainers, when in reality, all they were doing was limiting their best players' bonuses The families of the signed players would be given high interest loans in order to take most of the players' money once the money came.
This case, which could cost the Angels upwards of $21 million, will likely stretch into next year. The appearance of witnesses was delayed until November 30.
They want accountability for Major League Baseball and its teams. More and more teams are backing out of early deals, which is prompting the involvement of the man representing Faas and Pavon. There is no accountability for anyone in this space. Major League Baseball doesn't enforce anything. Their teams are not held accountable. Teams don't hold their scouts accountable. Everyone throws their hands up when it is convenient. Our hope is that there will be consequences for people doing the wrong thing.
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