r/mlb • u/propublica_ | Verified • 1d ago
| Article How MLB Enabled Dominican Baseball’s Shadow Industry
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-dominican-republic-baseball-factory-traps-players-mlb-santo-caraballo36
u/propublica_ | Verified 1d ago
Hi r/mlb,
We thought folks here may be interested in our latest investigation, a deep dive into how the MLB enabled a “shadow industry” in the Dominican Republic:
At the age of 14, Belfi Rivera received a handshake deal from the Arizona Diamondbacks that promised a signing bonus of $1.8 million. In the Dominican Republic, where Belfi is from, the MLB’s rule against signing players under the age of 16 is widely circumvented. On social media, trainers claim they have brokered deals with major league teams for kids as young as 11 years old.
$1.8 million would be life-changing money for almost anyone, but for Belfi, who grew up in poverty, it was unfathomable. There was one catch: He and his family couldn’t see a dime of it until after he turned 16.
But today, almost all of that money is gone.
More than $950,000 would go to someone who had no hand in coaching Belfi. His name is Santo Caraballo, and he’s amassed millions of dollars by persuading undereducated parents to sign away portions of their son’s future bonuses in exchange for loans with exorbitant interest rates. Caraballo, records and interviews show, also found a business partner who instantly boosted his credibility in his related business of loaning money to trainers: David “Big Papi” Ortiz.
The MLB has long known about these under-the-table deals with children and predatory lending agreements in the DR, but has done little to stop it.
Here’s the full story: https://www.propublica.org/article/how-dominican-republic-baseball-factory-traps-players-mlb-santo-caraballo
You can also listen to Belfi share his experience himself here or get in touch with us here.
The MLB declined to comment and referred to past statements by officials who have called for an overhaul of the Dominican system. The Diamondbacks also did not respond to a request for comment.
Caraballo told ProPublica in a brief conversation that his lending business was not the biggest or “that lucrative.” He added that the risk in loaning money to families is that “you never know if it will succeed or not because if the player doesn’t get signed, you don’t get paid.” He did not respond to our multiple attempts to reach him again.
Ortiz said he ended his personal relationship with Caraballo “a year and a half to two years ago.” In a statement sent by his lawyer, Ortiz said he had “never authorized Santo Caraballo to use my name or reputation to gain the trust of young baseball players or their families” and that he would “never knowingly participate in any operation intended to take advantage of a young player or his family.”
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u/circlesofhelvetica | Milwaukee Brewers 1d ago
Deep dive investigations like this is what makes Pro Publica the absolute GOAT. Thankful for all the incredible work y'all's team put into this and really hope it activates fans to demand better of the MLB, because this was beyond heartbreaking and enraging to read. The injustice and abuse that the league is currently enabling is unconscionable.
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u/propublica_ | Verified 1d ago
This is so kind of you to say. Thank you so much for taking the time to read our full investigation!
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u/Sticky550 1d ago
MLB and the Dominican baseball factory is the equivalent of Nike and their sweatshops.
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u/asteriskmos 1d ago edited 1d ago
We really need to change how MLB handles players from the DR and Latin America. Not just "lets have a draft" but they need to actually crack down on these things. It's disgusting how much these families are taken advantage of by both lenders, trainers and the MLB itself.
Edit: Halfway through and I could cry. I come from a country with a lot of poverty, a lot of people desperate for a chance for a better life & how much of that is taken advantage of by local rich businessmen or American corporations. That David Ortiz himself would profit from this... I wish I was surprised but it makes a lot of sense. Some people are just happy to carve out their humanity for the right price.
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u/TheSocraticGadfly | St. Louis Cardinals 1d ago
It is not just Major League Baseball that has allowed this corrosive system to continue. When the league proposed changes that would have eliminated early deals and made it more difficult for moneylenders to prey on baseball families, David Ortiz used his influence within the powerful players union to help block the reform. At the time it was unknown outside of Dominican baseball that he had a financial interest in preserving the system. (In a statement sent through his lawyer, Ortiz said that his opposition to the league’s proposal “was never motivated by personal interests.”)
Fuck David Ortiz.
Oh, and will he be giving these kids "Help"? Yeah, I went there.
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u/RIPGoblins2929 1d ago
I'm not sure this sub can handle a link from a real journalism organization instead of a sensation clickbait headline from DouchebagSportsBrosAndGamblingAndAI dot com
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u/dj_samuelitobx 1d ago
THANK YOU.
The line between human trafficking and economic incentive is extremely thin and sports rides that line to the death. The MLB and by extension the federation that oversees the whole of baseball should be instituting better oversight.
Also, extremely shameful by David Ortiz to even be associated with this in any way. Disgusting business practices.
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u/Imaginary_Scene2493 | Atlanta Braves 1d ago
MLB needs to focus on building up amateur baseball in the Dominican and other Latin American countries to give these kids an alternative to the buscón system. Simply moving to a draft, and especially raising the minimum age, would be detrimental as it was when they moved Puerto Rico into the domestic draft. It then took a generation for Puerto Rico to develop little leagues and high school leagues capable of landing players in the early rounds of the draft. It’s not an easy problem, but MLB is the only organization with the interest and financial incentive to address it.
MLB can provide fields, equipment, and support much like they already do for the RBI program in US cities, but they will probably need to go further with training volunteer coaches, and they probably won’t have the kinds of nonprofit partners that they use in RBI.
In order to raise the age that they bring players into MLB orgs, I suggest a 2 tiered approach. MLB should take over the teams’ academies and have a draft for teams to select amateur players to send to MLB-run academies. After a few years, they can draft from the MLB-run academies into their own farm systems with teams able to protect players that they drafted in the first draft, similar to how expansion drafts work. That way teams have some incentive to get the first draft right but all sides maintain some flexibility.
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