Ballplayer: Pelotero (2011) - full transcript
Two top baseball prospects in the Dominican Republic face fierce competition and corruption as they chase their big league dreams.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[CHUCKLES]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: 20% of professional
baseball players in the United
States in the minor
and major leagues
combined come from the
Dominican Republic.
1 in 5-- a staggering number
considering the island's
population is 2% of
the United States.
No one knows for sure,
but it's estimated
over 100,000 young players,
or peloteros, train
full time in thousands of
programs across the island.
And they all have
one dream-- to sign
a professional contract
on signing day, July 2.
This is the story
of two peloteros.
[CRACK]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: Jean Carlos Batista
is a 16-year-old shortstop.
He comes from a town
an hour away and boards
at the dorm of his
trainer, Astin.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
ASTIN JACOBO: He looks good.
The kid need some
polishing, and I'm
almost sure that
I'll get him signed.
We have our ground to cover.
We have five months in front of
us before July 2 comes around.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: One field
over from Astin's is
Moreno Tejeda's program.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: Miguel Angel Sano is
a 15-year-old shortstop who's
been training with
Moreno since he was 12.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
-He not only has bat and
projecting is your bat speed.
But the upside to the
size of his arm, I
think he's the top player that's
been here for a long time.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
-I love you.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[SPORTS ANNOUNCER]
NARRATOR: The 1962
San Francisco Giants
featured four of
the first Dominicans
to play the majors--
Felipe and Matty
Alou, Manny Mota
and Juan Marichal.
At a time when the Giants were
signing American prospects
for bonuses of $60,000, the
team paid less than $5,000
in total for these
four Dominican players
who helped them win the
National League pennant
and would go on to play in a
combined 16 all-star games.
[SPORTS ANNOUNCER]
Major league teams knew a
good thing when they saw it.
In the '80s, they
started pouring
millions into the
Dominican Republic.
They built training
facilities and hired staff
to scout the talent on
this impoverished island.
And MLB established
a set of rules.
The youngest a player
can sign is 16.
The first day they become
eligible is July 2.
This system has yielded
enormous returns.
[SPORTS ANNOUNCER]
For the past 20 years,
the Dominican system
has produced superstar
after superstar
at bargain basement prices.
When top American prospects
were signing for over a million
dollars, future all-stars Miguel
Tejada, Vladimir Guerrero,
and David Ortiz signed
for less than $4,000 each.
The run up to July 2
is a grueling marathon
for try outs for
young players who
have five months to prove
their worth to scouts
from Major League teams.
Today is John Carlos's first
tryout with the Houston Astros.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
ASTIN JACOBO: It's very
tough for a young kid
to be looking at a
person who's going
to decide what his
future's going to be.
Right there is, you're
recklessly nervous thinking,
you know, is this the guy
who's going to sign me?
Is this is the guy
who's going to give me
the money so I can buy
a house for my mom?
That's a lot of pressure on you.
Ah, was an outside pitch.
-Jean Carlos see his mother
probably once a week,
sometimes two weeks and
he doesn't see his mother.
But he sees me every day, and he
spends 6, 7, 8, 10 hours a day
with me.
We eat together, we ride
together, we sing together.
We are in the field together.
He tells me, "You
know I don't have
no father, so you my father."
NARRATOR: This signing season
is being watched closely
by baseball insiders with
all eyes on Miguel Angel
and just how high
his bonus might go.
NARRATOR: Miguel
Angel and Jean Carlos
are coming onto the
market following
a record breaking year.
In 2008, the previous year,
the Oakland A's signed
pitcher Michael Inoa for
$4.25 million dollars--
almost double the
previous record.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
-Oh yeah.
No question.
NARRATOR: Trainers
like Moreno and Astin
do not get paid for
coaching their players.
Most players could not
afford that anyway.
Trainers work on commission.
If a player does not
sign, the trainer
sees nothing for years of work.
But if a player does sign,
trainers take as much as 35%
of the player's signing bonus.
NARRATOR: Most trainers act
as agents for their players,
but elite prospects
like Miguel Angel
have professional agents to
handle negotiations for them.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
-I started doing this
in 1996, and I basically
broker Dominican 16-year-olds
to Major League baseball teams.
But Miguel Angel, I've
never had a guy this good.
I don't think it's
close, either.
It's a long process, but
when the teams have seen him
sufficiently, I can work out a
deal for him to sign on July 2
and negotiate,
hopefully, the biggest
bonus I can possibly negotiate.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
ROB PLUMMER: I've loaned
and invested money in him
that I feel comfortable I'm
going to get a good return on.
ROB PLUMMER: Like,
the family weren't
living to where I thought that
somebody who needed to have
his mind focused on
baseball was living.
They had rotted-out mattresses.
And so I offered to help them
move to a different place.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: 16 is the magic
number for Dominican prospects--
the age MLB allows
them to sign, the age
they command the
biggest bonuses.
After 16, a player's market
value drops precipitously,
and that's led to
rampant problems.
For years, Dominican players
have used steroids and hormones
to make their 16-year-old bodies
mature faster, though testing
now makes that hard
to get away with.
Just as common are players
lying about their ages, even
their identities.
-A lot of that happens
from the emphasis
that they want young guys that
could play baseball as go man,
you know, and that's
kind of hard to happen.
It gives guys
motivation to be 16.
Because that's
when they get paid.
NARRATOR: Years of
scandal came to a head
after the Washington
Nationals signed 16-year-old
Esmailyn Gonzalez
for $1.4 million.
Three years later, a reporter
discovered he was really
Carlos Lugo, 20 years old
at the time he signed.
Since then, MLB has ramped
up the investigation process
and teams are on high alert for
the slightest hint of fraud.
-Think this guy is gonna play
in the major league, guys.
I really think so.
He's got what it takes.
The interest on him
has increased a lot.
ASTIN JACOBO: We're
looking at a real player.
He smells like a major leaguer.
He does.
-Thank you.
-Yeah.
-He plays a few pitches.
He was playing ping
pong with them.
Do they like it?
Yes, they know him.
You never know.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
-In baseball, you
can't look at today.
You got to be able to look
at tomorrow and the day
after tomorrow.
When I look at today, I like it.
When I look at
tomorrow, I love it.
And when I look at the day
after tomorrow, it's so awesome,
I can't believe it.
Feels good.
NARRATOR: With two
months until July 2,
Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore
Orioles, and Minnesota Twins
have emerged as front
runners to sign Miguel Angel.
Rene Gayo, the Pittsburgh
scouting director,
has set up a private
tryout at Moreno's field.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[BABY CRYING]
NARRATOR: MLB now investigates
every Dominican prospect
to verify their
age and identity.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: For a player like
Miguel Angel, high profile
and likely to cost millions, the
scrutiny is even more intense.
NARRATOR: And with rumors
of fraud circulating,
MLB orders Miguel
Angel to undergo
an extraordinary
battery of tests.
NARRATOR: If MLB fines
that Miguel Angel is lying,
it's a mandatory
one-year suspension
before he can sign or get a visa
to play in the United States.
NARRATOR: After a series
of successful tryouts,
Jean Carlos's stock
is on the rise,
and MLB begins the
standard investigation
into his background.
-And though I have
looked through his papers
and everything, but I haven't
done this great investigation
that you have to do, and you got
to make sure, because I been--
you know, I got caught
one time with that.
With Manuel Sanchez.
He turn out to be Julio
Sanchez instead of Manuel.
-OK.
When guys are doing
something wrong,
usually you could see,
because, you know, I'm a coach.
I been around kids a lot.
When something wrong, they
give you a little hint.
And I say I haven't seen that--
not on him, not on his mother.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ROB PLUMMER: Major
League Baseball, they
haven't found a single
shred of evidence
that shows any-- isn't his age.
This whole system, the way
it's working against Miguel,
it kind of seems
like, you know, he's
guilty until proven innocent.
[CROWING]
-Today is July the 1st, a day
that we definitely like here
in the Dominican Republic,
especially guys like me.
Because tonight, after
12 o'clock, 12:01,
guys are going to
be eligible to sign.
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
This is the kind of a day when
you receiving phone calls.
They putting their
numbers together
and they gonna come
up with whatever
they say they think it's worth.
Let's put our head together and
try to do something about that.
And this hope that we get--
what we want, $1,500,000.
That's a go.
NARRATOR: While July
2 is signing day,
July 1 is the day when
contracts are negotiated.
The door is still
open for players
to negotiate and
sign after July 2,
but typically, the
top players sign on
to activate the largest bonuses.
Signing after July 2 usually
means smaller bonuses,
as teams have less
money available, if any,
to sign other free agents.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
-Hello?
-I broke the news to him, and he
kind of looked around and say,
you know, why he was
getting that amount of money
when other kids were
getting more money.
I say, you know,
this is reality.
This is what we
have here and now.
NARRATOR: Desperate to sign,
Miguel Angel and his family
turn to the Dominican Baseball
Commission, a government
agency that advocates
for players.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
-That's my boy.
I love him.
[LAUGHS] I really love him.
That's my boy.
That's my boy.
That's my boy.
[SHOUTING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Post July 2,
Miguel Angel and Juan Carlos
are still eligible to sign,
but both are in limbo.
After Juan Carlos
turned them down,
the Houston Astros signed
another Dominican shortstop
for $370,000.
Miguel Angel has
still not received
any offers as teams
are waiting for MLB
to conclude its investigation.
NARRATOR: Finally,
on July 24, months
after they launched Miguel
Angel's investigation.
MLB releases the results.
NARRATOR: While they conclude
that he is who he says he is,
they state his age
is "undetermined."
By undetermined,
MLB investigators
mean they don't have enough
evidence to verify or disprove
that media Miguel Angel is 16.
The message to teams
is, sign Miguel
Angel Sano at your own risk.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: After the
meeting with Renee Gayo,
the Sanos gave the hidden
tape to Miguel Angel's agent,
Rob Plummer.
ROB PLUMMER: I actually tried
to show the tape to other teams,
or, but the teams don't want
to hear, he's 16 years old.
They want to believe
that they don't
have to pay him that much money.
Because if you can pay him
$2 million, not $5 million,
well, then you're going to
try to pay him $2 million.
It kind of smells
like collusion to me.
I'm not saying we're going
to sign for like, $5 million
or $4.5 million or break
anyone's bonus anymore,
but Major League Baseball
might have an interest
in trying to keep
the bonuses down.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: Juan
Carlos's investigation
has been delayed in a
backlog at the MLB office.
-You see that his mother give
him breath-- was at the bottom.
He was supposed to be
somewhere in the middle.
Because he was born on the 15th.
It's a little odd.
If this kid could not
be signed, then they
really have taken
advantage of me.
That really throws our
work out the window.
We got to find out
exactly what's going on.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[HONKS]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
-And repeat it after me.
Hello.
My name is--
My name is--
Hello, my name is Miguel Angel.
I am from Dominican Republic.
My favorite baseball
player [INAUDIBLE].
Is.
Is [INAUDIBLE].
Nice to meet you.
Nice.
Nice to meet you.
And to the class--
Welcome.
Welcome to the class.
Very good.
Ah, next.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
-They lie, him and his mom.
I went to his school.
I find out on the third
grade, he was born in 1991.
And then the fourth
grade, was '92.
Basically, he's 17 turning 18.
I confronted his
mother, and that's
when she admitted the truth.
I was naughty, mad, you
know, because my reputation
went down the drain.
And I was out there pushing my
player, working with my guy,
telling everybody about all the
wonderful things he could do
as a baseball player
that he could still do.
I mean, he's a
great ball player.
But he was lying.
NARRATOR: Major League
Baseball suspends
Jean Carlos for
lying about his age.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
NARRATOR: He will not be able
to sign for another year,
ensuring a much
smaller signing bonus.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
-Things with Jean Carlos did not
end up as good as we wanted to,
and the relationship
is not the same.
It's just that when
somebody lies to you,
it's not-- never the same.
-Jean Carlos can say
whatever he wants to say.
When they changed the age on
Jean Carlos, he was already 10.
I don't know anything
that happens,
that happens when
I was a little kid.
Come on.
If you're 9 when you're
in the 3rd grade,
and you're 9 when you in
the 4th grade, I mean,
you can't be 9 for 700 days, you
could only be 9 for 365 days.
And Jean Carlos is very bright.
Always been very smart.
Things like that are just
not going to pass on him.
Jean Carlo was a liar before.
And he's still a liar.
And he's always
going to be a liar.
[SHOUTING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]