Comments on: Royals sign Raul Mondesi’s 16-year-old son for $2 million

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:36:30 +0000

At 16 if someone offered me 10 dollars to shoot a porno I’d have done that too. We have laws in place for a reason, and a corporation crossing borders to skirt those laws is unacceptable.

By: foreverchipper10

foreverchipper10 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:44:29 +0000

So if you were 16 and a major league club offered you $2 million you would say no because it conflicts with your morals on child labor?

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:32:57 +0000

I understand you had a job at 14. At 16, you can legally work 24 hours a week, and not after 9pm. You can’t work more than 4 hours at a time. You can’t work during school hours on school days. These regulations aren’t condusive to training a baseball player, so clubs skirt this and sign kids in other countries. The reason there are so many Latin Americans in the majors isn’t because they are a superior race. It is because they are cheaper to train than an American, and can be trained at a younger age.

Playing baseball is fun. Working baseball isn’t. I have worked baseball in college. Gamedays were great, but practice sucked, and our practices were only 4 hours, not 10, 12 ,14 hours

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:23:06 +0000

I have seen reports on baseball in the America’s. Local “coaches/agents” take kids as young as 10 out of school and teach them baseball full time. They teach them to hit and pitch, never seeing an actual field. It is a fulltime job, long before they even know the rules to the game.

Many of them have never actually played baseball until they are signed to a professional contract, usually in the hundreds, not thousands or millions. Mondesi is a rare exception, likely because he could afford an agent. Baseball is a way for local businessmen to make money as scouts, receiving money for bringing these kids to baseball teams. Teams set up full time camps, where these kids live and do nothing but work baseball. These local coaches/scouts/kidnappers are pimps, and baseball’s running a metaphorical brothel.

By: genericcommenter

genericcommenter — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:21:12 +0000

He’s 16. I had my first legal job at 14, as did most of my friends- at least the ones who weren’t spoiled. That was the legal working age in the U.S. and I assume still is. I sure wish I could have been paid to play baseball. I would have played baseball at 16 for minimum wage. It beats sweating away summers and weekends in a hot kitchen ( or on a boat, in a field,etc) and spending the other 180 days sitting around waiting for the next 2 years of your life to pass by so you can start doing what matters.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:12:10 +0000

There are MLB Network reports on these places. For every Mondesie, there are 1000 kids who dropout to sign $1,000 contracts in the Latin American coutries where MLB has set up player factories where these kids are working 16 hours a day. My outrage is justified.

In America, our kids have options. They can turn down a contract and choose college. Baseball has learned they can sign 100 Dominican kids for less than it would cost to sign a 5th rounder. So they do. No law against it, but it still pisses me off.

By: anotheryx

anotheryx — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:56:51 +0000

It might be against letter of the child labor law (if it’s in US), but it sure as heck is NOT against the spirit of the child labor law (which is to prevent exploit of children). I think we can all agree that when a 16 year old get paid 2mil to play baseball, he is not being exploited.

On that note, I also do not think kids work for Nike in third world country is really exploitation . Is it so much worse to get paid $1 or whatever an hour to make shoes than alternatives which often include die of hunger? Mah, toss up I guess.

By: cleverbob

cleverbob — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:26:43 +0000

Yes, but he’s getting P-A-I-D to play a G-A-M-E. I think your outrage would be better suited for ill-treated, ill-paid child workers in places like China.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:18:02 +0000

He is a child hired by Billionaires to make money for them. It would not be legal in this country. They scour other countries for children who will eventually pay dividends for them, regardless of the dangers. To me, it’s shameful.

By: cleverbob

cleverbob — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:14:06 +0000

It’s difficult to invoke child labor transgressions when the kid is getting P-A-I-D.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:01:17 +0000

Am I the only one who gets disgusted every time I read a story like this. Baseball is a dangerous game. People are severely injured every year with lifelong injuries. He should be competing against high school sophomores, not grown men. Why is baseball allowed to skirt child labor laws outlawing dangerous work conditions for minors? Same way Nike does I guess. As long as it’s in a country with no child labor laws, it is none of their concerns. No other work environment would or should permit a sixteen year old to be subjected to possible, if not probable, broken bones, torn tendons, torn ligaments etc.

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:56:03 +0000

this will do it for sure. the Royals are heading for the W-S.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:55:49 +0000

I trust that the money will be invested wisely and hope that the son becomes a solid pro like his father.