Another important thing to bring up in regards to the MLB prospect pipeline in Dominica Republic the BuscĂłn (Americanized: buscone). The BuscĂłnes are older than the MLB academy teams presence in the DR. These are independent and often informal âagentsâ and âtrainersâ that seek out prospects in Dominica Republic as young as 12 and 13, who then house, feed, and train them, as long as this prospect gives them 30% or more of their future MLB contracts or signing bonus (a lot of sources just say signing bonus, but thereâs also been a lot of discussion that it typically ends up being a lifelong debt these prospects have to settle). The BuscĂłn is more often than not someone from DR, but are also white people from the US who prey on the youth who want to make a better life for themself.
Often times these BuscĂłnes are how prospects get into the academies to begin with, theyâll seek them out on the street and lure them in with all the possibilities before them and sign them for the academies. This is also how MLB teams can get players to sign so young, because these BuscĂłnes then will set up âshowcasesâ once the players meet the minimum required age to be sign a contract (which, apparently, has been raised to 17).
Then, thereâs the fact that these are strange men with access to young boys and with no one to stop or manage them, because these boys no longer live with their families, and these academies are often far away from their hometown. Abuse, like pushing a child pass their limits, forging their documents to make them appear older, giving them PEDs, and removing them from schools can go unchecked.
Some academiesâat least most of the ones ran by MLB teamsâare at least trying to make the system better, even if it is substandard. Many have implemented English classes as well as financial courses to help them in case they do make it to the MLB, with the Arizona Diamondbacks being particularly notable in the fact that theyâre committed to helping all their players complete at least their high school education. This is, obviously, not without its flaws, as itâs leading to assimilation instead of education for a majority of these students, because itâs banking on the idea of them making it big. This also doesnât change the fact that there are a lot of baseball academies within the DR that are funded by investors, not by teams, and arenât held to the same standard as people would hold the MLB academies, because people donât often know about them. A way to fix this would be allowing there to be both a national and international MLB draft, where players can enter as draftees, instead of forcing them to enter as free agents, which gives the BuscĂłnes less leverage when talking to these kids and their families. Because if a kid can enter without needing an agent, at least right away, a lot of them may turn away from the prospect of what the BuscĂłnes offers.
God, not even to mention the fact that this would stop the bidding wars that BuscĂłnes would create around their prospects, so that they can make as much money as possible. A lot of times their big payout comes when the player signs their first deal, so a BuscĂłn will send these outlandish sums to the teams in hopes theyâll pay, which most teams will balk at, then stopped paying altogether due to the aforementioned PEDs being pushed onto these kids. The MLB did *try* in the 2010s to develop a system within the DR that was more under their control in attempt to eliminate the BuscĂłn system, but BuscĂłnes are so entrenched in it, with so many kids under their control already, that they couldnât displace them (which then led to the cap on how much teams could spend in international markets + made the requirement of drug testing before signing). This does NOT excuse MLB of their fault in this, because some MLB workers have been fired for plotting with BuscĂłnes.
I will say that it sounds like a lot of MLB scouts detest the BuscĂłnes, but thereâs really nothing you can do about it because of the nature of baseball within Dominica Republic, and the fact that the government also hasnât done anything to stop it. I think a large part of the reason why thereâs not more pushback against it, especially within DR, is that for a lot of people this is their only hope of getting out of poverty, but it has the downside of leaving most of these kids (about 98% of them) with no education and no means of making a livable wage. If they do get to play in the MLB, even for a short while, they canât rely on their signing bonus because the BuscĂłn takes a good portion of it, and for a lot of people, both within and out of the DR, they donât want it to change because of that 2% who make it.
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