Cardinals refuse to pay prospect $3.1 million

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

Source: Yahoo Sports

By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports
10 hours, 44 minutes ago


Mateo is a 16-year-old from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. His mother cleans an office and his father works as a handyman. He was planning on pulling his family into wealth with his prodigious baseball talent, rewarded in July with a $3.1 million signing bonus from the St. Louis Cardinals.

During the physical examination standard for a player signing such a huge contract, doctors informed the Cardinals of a possible issue with the vision in Mateo’s right eye. The team sent him to specialists, but definitive answers were elusive. With the 90-day window to void the contract approaching, the Cardinals acted swiftly Tuesday night.

They swooped in and took money from a blind kid.

Of course it’s not that simple, little in the Latin American baseball business being so. As signing bonuses have risen dramatically among teenagers primarily in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, so has scrutiny. Top prospects now undergo DNA testing to verify their age and steroid testing to ensure their coaches aren’t doping them. Almost a dozen scouts and executives have been fired in a bonus-skimming scandal that drew FBI interest.


Read more: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-mateo092409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[MNDemNY]

1. Are you implying that the Cards did something wrong here?

I do not see it.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. Uhm no, I just thought it was an interesting story. It's sad that this kid could have

achieved something others could only dream off. But it didn't happen. I have no opinion on this one way or another.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Huh? He's not blind, just not ready for major league fastballs.

It sounds like the Cardinals were completely within their rights here.

A tough break for this kid.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. Yeah, I don't know where they got tha tone from. nt

[Captain Hilts]

5. Here's hoping he can use his skills in coaching or something. It would be nice

if the Cardinals crossed his palm with a little something, though.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. The one thing I don't get is the whole 20/30 visIon thing. What exactly does that do? nt

[Alcibiades]

16. Someone will sign this kid

They have glasses and stuff. If he's as good as advertised, this will wind up being a glitch in a pro career, not something that ends it before it starts.

[ORDagnabbit]

7. 3.1 million to play a friggin game??? I hate pro sports with a passion..waste of money

[AngryAmish]

8. your concern is noted

[hughee99]

13. If the "friggin game" generates billions in revenue

not just for the teams, but the surrounding areas, what's the problem with giving the people who perform a portion of that? It's not coming from the government, it's given over willingly by those who support the activity. Do you feel the same about musicians, actors and writers?

[DefenseLawyer]

15. Don't buy a professional sports team

and you won't have to worry in the least about how much they pay their employees.

[frebrd]

9. From the title.......

I thought this was about Catholic Cardinals. I was wondering "Prospect for what?"


:)

[RedCloud]

10. I support my beloved Cardinals in this, but think the exploitation has to stop...

So many of the Latino ballplayers are signed literally as bonus babies without regard as to what may happen to them, their families as suddenly megabucks are thrown at them long before they are able to graduate with so much as a high school diploma. How many other kids will follow their example and give up school mistakenly believing they are of equal chance or talent?

[Demit]

11. Not the ones who aren't heavily recruited, I hope.

I mean, that would be their first clue that they might not have the stuff for the majors. Don't you think?

[Blue_Tires]

12. yeah, its messed up

to make it even worse, the prospects don't see as much cash as you would think...there is a legion of kickbacks to be made to 'agents' 'scouts' trainers, etc...to the point where the kid and his family just get the trickle down from the contract...

[niceypoo]

14. Santo Domingo is one dismal place

You are either wealthy or destitute there. There is no real work because Haitians from across the border will work for about 75 cents a day. I hope he gets his payday.