How the Dominican Baseball Factory Traps Young Players and Their Families With False Promises

Reporting Highlights

Free-for-All: The Dominican Republic produces more major league ballplayers than any country outside the U.S., but the industry is essentially unregulated.

Open Secret: Major league teams skirt the rule that they can’t sign a prospect until he’s 16 by offering boys as young as 11 handshake deals, in some cases for millions of dollars.

Stolen Promises: With enormous sums promised to poor families, moneylenders exploit them by offering loans at exorbitant interest rates and find ways to scam them.

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.