JimBo, Rijo under investigation

[Big Klu]

I think the days of an international draft are coming, and it's events like this that will get things in motion. The and NHL and NBA do it--so can MLB.

[Chip R]

I think the days on an international draft are coming, and it's events like this that will get things in motion. The and NHL and NBA do it--so can MLB.

The situations are a little different since the good foreign players in those leagues are well known and it's a bit more of a crapshoot for baseball players. But I do agree there should be an international draft. Now integrating it with the current amateur draft is another question.

[westofyou]

The situations are a little different since the good foreign players in those leagues are well known and it's a bit more of a crapshoot for baseball players. But I do agree there should be an international draft. Now integrating it with the current amateur draft is another question.

The NHL international draft is of youngsters, not well known players, it's the place where the Red Wings clean up.

[Big Klu]

The situations are a little different since the good foreign players in those leagues are well known and it's a bit more of a crapshoot for baseball players. But I do agree there should be an international draft. Now integrating it with the current amateur draft is another question.

The NHL international draft is of youngsters, not well known players, it's the place where the Red Wings clean up.

Then major-league clubs will have to expand their scouting in Latin America, East Asia, Australia, and even Europe. I know it's a different sport, but like WOY mentioned, the Red Wings do very well drafting international players who are young and unknown. I'm sure they have scouts in Eastern Europe--the Czech Republic, Russia, the Ukraine--looking at these players.

[cincinnati chili]

The NHL international draft is of youngsters, not well known players, it's the place where the Red Wings clean up.

But don't hockey clubs draft the "young" players out of the junior hockey leagues in Canada? Those leagues are heavily organized and scouted. As I'm sure you know, many Canadians follow and care about junior hockey a helluva lot more than the NHL or NCAA hockey.

By contrast, if MLB is going to be allowed to draft 16 year olds from the rural Dominican - most of whom are in quasi-organized or non-organized leagues - then MLB's worldwide draft will involve a lot more tea-leaf reading than NHL/NBA.

I have mixed feelings about a worldwide draft. As a fan I favor it. As a neutral observer, I don't know. More important to me is that MLB clubs become forced to comport with minimum-wage laws for rookie-level teams. Based on a 60-hour work week (which is honestly, the club's expectation for players whom they consider "prospects"), non "bonus-baby" players are paid illegally low salaries. These players are disproportionately Venezuelan/Dominican (a much higher percentage than you see in the majors), and it's classic exploitation.

[top6]

How can you keep defending Bowden? He's clearly an awful GM and not the best person in the world either. Btw his offense is the second worst in baseball.

I think some people defend him because, no matter how much people do not want this to be true, the Reds were better when he was GM than they have been since.

Also, FYI, the Nationals have finished with a better record than the Reds two of the three years he was GM there - even though their farm system was emptied out by Omar "Genius" Minaya in 2004 before he left for greener pastures.

So I think people calling him "the worst GM" are wrong. And if they are right, it's only because the Reds have had to fire their last 2 GMs.

Of course, I have no way of knowing if he is guilty of these accusations or, frankly, even what the accusations are (from the articles). We'll have to wait and see.

[OnBaseMachine]

Everywhere Bowden goes his starting rotations are usually junk. He's never been able to develop starting pitching. Color me unimpressed with his resume.

[westofyou]

But don't hockey clubs draft the "young" players out of the junior hockey leagues in Canada? Those leagues are heavily organized and scouted. As I'm sure you know, many Canadians follow and care about junior hockey a helluva lot more than the NHL or NCAA hockey.

Yes, but they also have an international draft of young players too... and they have to go up against Swedish leagues and Russian leagues (not tp mention al the other smaller Europe leagues)

PDX has a Junior club, they have a bigger following and history then most of the teams that vie for the Kelly Cup, so yes Junior and college hockey feed the NHL with a draft, but the untapped market as of late has been the Nordic area.

[REDREAD]

How can you keep defending Bowden? He's clearly an awful GM and not the best person in the world either. Btw his offense is the second worst in baseball.

If it was Wayne K getting accused, I'd say the same thing.

I said the same thing when Bonds was first accused of taking steriods. I guess I'm just gullible and don't automatically assume someone is guilty based on some reporter that wants a big headline.

Yes, Washington stinks this year. I meant when you look at his entire career, he's generally good at building an offense and bullpen with little money and resources. He's good at picking up a Todd Walker or Ron Gant when no one else wants him. Doesn't always work, of course.

It doesn't appear as if the Nationals ownership has any desire to build a winner. Much like the 2003 Reds, ownership did squat to try to improve the team when the new park was built. It's a shame for fans of that area, because that is a potentially huge market and under the right leadership, that team could be a powerhouse. But it's always easier to just milk the baseball revenue sharing system and field a horrible team if all ownership cares about is the bottom line.

It makes one appreciate an owner like Cast even more.

[Hooligan]

Do they allow prisoners to weather leather pants? Just asking.

Yes, but there called chaps!

[REDREAD]

BTW IIRC the Nationals were among the biggest spenders in the 2007 draft and International signing period so calling them cheap or not wanting to win is not correct.

But this year, apparently they won't budge over slot for picks 1-5...

The Reds had a one year big spending spree on international talent too. They signed that Pena Dominican free agent, I think that was the same year they drafted Howington and gave him a huge bonus. (I think they shelled out big money the year before on KEarns/Dunn as well) They made a big deal over signing that Japaneese kid and the big show about how they were going to turn the farm around. A couple years later, they punt Sowers and have no money to sign Esponsia + Sardinha.. not to mention all the signablity picks they made. Allen decided the farm system was a waste. The Howington thing really soured him (he was quoted as such), and funds were cut.

Obviously, I don't follow Washington, so I don't know what's happening there. Don't really care much either, but that's a pretty big red flag when they claim they might not sign their top 5 draft picks because they refuse to budge off slot money..

[westofyou]

It's a shame for fans of that area, because that is a potentially huge market

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...070803278.html

Of all the stunning and unexpected sports statistics that we will ever see, few take the breath away more quickly than the assertion on Monday, in Nielsen Media Research data published by SportsBusiness Journal, that only 9,000 household TV sets, out of a metropolitan area of 5.5 million people, are tuned to the average Nationals game.

"Nine thousand?" said an incredulous Manny Acta, eyebrows arched. "Is that possible?"

That's the universal reaction. From the Nats up to Commissioner Bud Selig, that raw number, a minuscule 0.39 average rating

[cincinnati chili]

Washington D.C. like Montreal is a big market with some great sports fans.

Winning a little bit and not putting a bad taste in the community's mouth go a long way in reversing those numbers.

[REDREAD]

Washington D.C. like Montreal is a big market with some great sports fans.

Winning a little bit and not putting a bad taste in the community's mouth go a long way in reversing those numbers.

Yep, Washington and Montreal didn't have the benefit of team history like the Reds have had. We have fans left over from the BRM era and their children.
We have fans that were dressed up in Reds gear from infancy.

Milwaukee has had a huge attendence increase this year (according to a radio interview with Melvin, their GM). Hopefully the Reds can get winning and win some new fans over as well.

But Washington is a sleeping giant, imo. If it ever gets its act together and starts winning, there's a lot of money in that area..

[OnBaseMachine]

Yankees prospects may have been forced to kick back bonus money

By T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada
ESPN.com

Updated: August 4, 2008, 7:26 PM ET

Major League Baseball investigators are looking into accusations that several New York Yankees prospects from the Dominican Republic were forced to kick back portions of their signing bonuses to one or more team employees, several sources told ESPN.

The revelation is one of several developments in an ongoing investigation of a financial scandal involving the signing of players from the Dominican Republic. Last week, the Red Sox's Dominican scouting supervisor, Pablo Lantigua, was fired after MLB investigators confronted him about allegedly skimming signing bonuses, according to an MLB source.

Sources also told ESPN that the investigation is expected to implicate roughly 20 people on "a handful" of teams before it is complete. Investigators also have expanded their probe into Venezuela, where many major league clubs have player academies. "Things are coming to a head," one source familiar with MLB's investigation said.

Four MLB investigators returned to the United States from the Dominican last week and are preparing a report for the commissioner's office. While clubs have fired several officials already implicated in the scandal, MLB has worked closely with the FBI, which is conducting its own investigation into the alleged skimming of bonuses.

One source briefed on MLB investigators' findings said he believed "less than a half-dozen" teams would be implicated, including the Yankees, Red Sox, Nationals and White Sox.

The 20 or so employees, based in both the United States and the Dominican Republic, either received money or were aware of others who did, the source said.

Sources said FBI agents have not traveled to the Dominican, and contrary to media reports, have limited their probe thus far to allegations surrounding fired White Sox official David Wilder, Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden and Nationals special assistant Jose Rijo.

Wilder has not commented and did not return several phone calls. Bowden previously confirmed to ESPN that he had spoken with federal authorities but insisted he has done nothing wrong, and that FBI agents had asked him nothing about his own activities. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman declined to comment. Officials with Major League Baseball and the Red Sox on Monday did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The accusations against the Yankees surfaced more than a month ago, sources said, but were augmented by an anonymous letter sent to the club shortly after investigators began looking into the charges. The letter listed the names of several prospects and the amount of money allegedly skimmed from their signing bonuses.

Two sources familiar with the letter's contents said Yankees officials turned it over to MLB investigators and have cooperated.

One of the players named in the letter was well-regarded prospect Kelvin DeLeon, a 17-year-old outfielder who signed for $1.1 million last year. He is currently playing for the Yankees' Dominican League club.

Investigators are looking at the involvement of Yankees scouting official Carlos Rios, sources said.

The scandal began to break in March when Wilder, then the scouting director for the White Sox, was stopped in Miami by U.S. Customs officials while trying to bring about $40,000 in cash back from the Dominican Republic. Sources said Wilder, who has not been criminally charged, has been cooperating with the FBI. He and two scouts were fired by the White Sox in May.

Wilder and others have been accused of inflating the value of some Dominican prospects, then demanding a kickback from the players' families once the players were signed. Critics have long complained that street agents known as "buscones" had been taking large cuts of players' bonuses as fees, but the news that scouts and other officials employed by the clubs were taking money has jolted the island.

"The families went along with it because they were still getting the money," one source said. "[The scouts] were really stealing money from the clubs."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3519111