Does Major League Baseball Exploit Latino Players?

*This is despicable, discriminatory, just wrong. We’ve published many stories praising the rise of Latino players in the MLB, but this borders on indentured servitude. VL

By Tony Dokoupil, NBC News

Almost every major leaguer does time in the minors, stockpiled somewhere across five levels of play, but Latinos like these face special hardships when they arrive. They don’t have a network of parents with orange slices and friends with couches, and yet the future of baseball is shaped by their success or failure.

To understand the inequality of the minors, start with the numbers. There are about 7,000 players on the payroll of Major League baseball teams, most of them in the minor leagues, pushing for their debut. They are pursuing a dream, of course, but also a pay check. The minimum in season monthly salary of a major leaguer is $84,000. The minimum in season salary of a minor leaguer is $1,100.

Major League Baseball’s official rules exclude Latino-born players from the annual amateur player draft; they also cap the bonus money available to all international talent. As a result the average shortstop from San Marcos or Caracas will sign for less than half the sum commanded by his athletic equal in Tuscaloosa or Lexington. And if baseball fails the Latino youngster, he’ll have on average much less education to fall back on.

Here again, Major League Baseball’s official rules contribute to an unequal outcome. While Americans can’t turn pro until they have a high school degree or its equivalent, Latino kids can be signed at 16 years old, regardless of their education. They get swept up by the thousands, sold on a Major League Dream, then spit out again. Most have no diploma, no educational fund, and nothing but calluses to show for their youth.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo by Corey Seeman/Flickr]

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