To: Sandy Alderson

Louis Melendez

(Major League Baseball Commissioner’s Office)

From: Arturo J. Marcano

David P. Fidler

Date: January 17, 2003

This memorandum contains our preliminary analysis of the document entitled "MLB Academy Standards and Compliance Inspection Procedure" (Standards), which the Commissioner’s Office circulated in the fall of 2002 and a copy of which we obtained. The Major League Baseball Commissioner’s Office, through its office in the Dominican Republic, drafted the Standards in 2001-2002 to rectify the lack of any rules regulating the baseball academies operated by Major League Baseball teams in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Although the copy of the Standards that we reviewed did not contain any of the addenda referenced in the document, we believe that we had the main substantive provisions drafted by the Commissioner’s Office.

For years, many Major League Baseball teams have been operating badly resourced and managed academies to recruit and train children and young men in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The Commissioner’s Office and Major League teams have known about these practices for a long time but did nothing, until very recently, to deal with this systemic reality of Major League operations in Latin America.

By contrast, through the Major League Rules (MLRs), the Commissioner’s Office has long imposed quality and other standards on minor league operations and facilities in North America. Even though MLB academies in Latin American countries were clearly part of the MLB minor league system, the Commissioner’s Office did not apply existing MLRs on minor league operations to the academies, nor did teams follow the MLRs in how they operated their academies. In this respect, the Commissioner’s Office and the MLB teams joined in the creation of a system that discriminated intentionally against Latin children and young men because it provided these individuals with none of the protections and quality standards required for North American minor league facilities.

The Standards represent the first effort by the Commissioner’s Office to provide Major League teams with guidance on the operation of baseball academies in Latin American countries. The Standards represent, therefore, a step in the right direction of raising the quality of the environments in which Major League teams recruit and train Latin children and young men in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

The step the Commissioner’s Office has taken with the Standards is, however, incomplete and contains disturbing elements that indicate that the Commissioner’s Office and the Major League teams desire to maintain a system that intentionally discriminates against Latin children and young men. This memorandum spells out how the Standards are not, in their present form, acceptable as a basis for improving the treatment of Latin children and young men by Major League teams and the Commissioner’s Office.

Overview of Reform Principles

In a letter of September 9, 2002 to Commissioner Selig and Don Fehr, Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, on the proposal for a worldwide draft made during the last round of collective bargaining, we set out five principles that we believe should guide reform efforts to improve the way Major League teams operate in Latin America. These principles are:

In this memorandum, we apply four of these principles in our analysis (centralization, harmonization, specialization, and implementation). We do not have enough information to assess whether the Commissioner’s Office sought input from interested parties in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela in drafting the Standards. With respect to the other four reform principles, we find the Standards deficient, even as a first step.

Centralization

As indicated above, the Standards represent the first effort by the Commissioner’s Office to create standards to regulate Major League teams’ baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The Standards appear to be intended to serve as a central set of rules for this purpose. In fact, the opening line of the Standards states: "Each Latin American academy and complex must maintain a facility that complies with these Standards." The Standards represent a desire on the part of the Commissioner’s Office to move away from the existing decentralized, unregulated system to one in which every team has to comply with a single set of rules.

This move toward centralization raises the important question about the status of the Standards as they apply to Major League teams. To our knowledge, the Standards do not represent MLRs that form part of the central regulatory regime overseen by the Commissioner’s Office. At present, the Standards do not have the force and effect of MLRs because they do not form part of that system of formal, binding rules. We do not understand how the Commissioner’s Office can implement and enforce standards that do not have the status of binding rules under the MLRs. Because the Standards are not part of the MLRs, they are merely recommendations not requirements to Major League teams.

Over 25% of Major League players and approximately 50% of minor league players are from foreign countries, with the overwhelming majority of those coming from Latin America. For the centralized system of rules that regulates Major League Baseball–the MLRs–to continue not to include enforceable standards for Major League teams’ operation of baseball facilities in Latin America is astonishing.

We hear the argument that reform of Major League Baseball activities in Latin American must proceed slowly and incrementally because teams resist dramatic changes in the manner in which they operate their Latin facilities. The scale of Major League operations in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela combined with the well-known and undeniable mistreatment and discrimination that occurs against Latin children and young men calls for nothing less than radical reform from the first not the last step.

Rapid incorporation of a revised set of standards regulating Major League teams’ academies in Latin America into the MLRs is, thus, required by both the circumstances in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and the reform principle of centralization.

Harmonization

Reform of Major League teams’ operations in Latin America must be guided by the principle of harmonization–all minor league prospects regardless of their national origin, socio-economic status, level of education, or location of training should be accorded equal, non-discriminatory treatment and protection under a harmonized set of rules.

As we have argued in our scholarship and our prior communications to the Commissioner’s Office, one of the most unacceptable features of the way Major League Baseball operates in Latin American countries is the absence of rules regulating the system and protecting children and young men from mistreatment and exploitation. The MLRs contain extensive rules regulating minor league activity in North America, but the Commissioner’s Office and the Major League teams have not created a similar web of rule-based protection for Latin children and young men. In this context, harmonization is critical and urgently required.

The Standards represent an incomplete effort at harmonization. The first part of the Standards, encompassing requirements and recommendations on the playing field and accompanying facilities, draws on rules found in Section 12 of Attachment 58 of the MLRs. The Standards involve, therefore, some harmonization.

The harmonization is, however, incomplete in two respects. First, the Standards do not contain some rules in MLR Attachment 58 without apparent reasons for such omissions. Here is an example taken at random from a comparison of MLR Attachment 58 and the Standards:

This example raises the question why it is important to have new field layouts and modifications to existing fields vetted in North America but not in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Based on the way in which the two minor league systems work, the need for greater supervision exists in Latin America not North America. Other rules that appear in MLR Attachment 58 simply do not appear in the Standards for reasons, again, that are not immediately obvious.

We do not claim that no reasons exist for these deviations from the principle of harmonization. We raise these questions to assert that the Commissioner’s Office bears a significant burden to justify why the standards for the physical playing facilities are not the same for minor league operations in North and Latin America.

The second concern in relation to the principle of harmonization involves significant omissions of important rules in the MLRs from the Standards. The Standards do not include, for example, MLR 56(5)(F), which requires the Major League team to provide its minor league clubs with a trainer and all reasonable medical supplies for use by such trainer. The Commissioner’s Office is well aware of the lack of proper trainers and medical attention for players in Major League academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, so the failure to include requirements for staffing academies with properly qualified and resourced trainers does not result from ignorance about the problem.

The Standards should deal not only with the physical requirements for the playing facilities but also the manner in which Major League teams use those facilities in training children and young men to play baseball. The MLRs accomplish this for minor league teams in North America, and the principle of harmonization requires the same protection and treatment be accorded to Latin minor leaguers.

Specialization

We have argued previously that, in certain areas, special rules may need crafting to address problems that exist in Major League academies in Latin America. In our letter of September 9, 2002 to Selig and Fehr, we argued that the principle of specialization mandates the adoption of rules under which Major League teams are required to provide Latin prospects and their parents with Spanish-language version of all contractual documents. The Standards contain no such rules. We also raised in our September 9^th letter the need for the Commissioner’s Office to develop special rules to regulate how Major League teams deal with buscones in Latin American countries. The Standards do not address this issue either.

The Standards do, however, resonate with the principle of specialization in the rules appearing under the heading "Facility/Building Conditions." This section of the Standards contains requirements and recommendations on, among other things, academy housing, dormitories, ventilation, bathroom cleanliness and hygiene, food, kitchen hygiene, and pest control programs. These rules address problems the Commissioner’s Office recognizes exist in Major League baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. No equivalent rules appear in the MLRs, further demonstrating how this section of the Standards connects to the principle of specialization.

We commend the Commissioner’s Office for crafting special rules to meet the often disturbing conditions in which Major League teams lodge and train Latin children and young men in their baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. For the Commissioner’s Office to think it necessary to draft requirements for Major League teams to clean bathrooms, keep facilities free of trash, feed players properly from hygienic kitchens, and provide filtered water is a dramatic indication of how bad the quality of treatment in many Major League academies has been. The Standards provide some evidence that the Commissioner’s Office is finally attempting to deal with this systemic problem.

The move in the direction of the principle of specialization is, however, incomplete; and the incompleteness is, in some circumstances, cause for concern. Alarming, for example, is the language in the Standards on the facility or building in which academy participants can be housed:

The first sentence of this standard does not, in fact, create either a requirement or a recommendation. It simply lists possible types of housing. This sentence further does not include any quality or other criteria to guide a Major League team’s choice of housing. Criteria such as space per occupant, the number of rooms, adequacy of electrical and plumbing infrastructure, and effectiveness of the roof in keeping rain and the elements from occupants are important to consider in establishing standards for baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

Astonishingly, the second sentence only recommends that the facility be in a secure area. Surely, standards for baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela should require security be a primary consideration for a Major League team’s choice of housing options. Although Major League teams do not have control over levels of crime in areas near baseball academies, they can be required to take actions to minimize the security risk players take in living and training in baseball academies. The Standards do not take player security seriously as an issue to be regulated through the principle of specialization.

In other respects, the special rules in the Standards raise questions about their application. For example, Rule 3.1 on Food requires that the academy’s written menu be certified by a nutritionist. The rule does not indicate whether the nutritionist must be an employee of the team or an independent, certified nutritionist in the relevant jurisdiction. Nor does the rule indicate on what criteria the menu should be evaluated by the nutritionist. In Section 4, on Pest Control Programs, do the suppliers of fumigation services have to be certified to provide those particular services? In Sections 5 (Instructional Conditions/Facilities) and 6 (Workout Facilities), the Standards make references to qualifications of individuals without clarifying the criteria for determining whether an individual in those contexts is qualified.

The last guiding principle of reform of Major League Baseball activities in Latin America should be the determined application and enforcement of the rules regulating the standard of treatment of Latin children and young men playing in Major League baseball academies. The Standards are also disappointing with regard to the principle of implementation, suggesting perhaps a lack of political will on the part of the Commissioner’s Office to change significantly the manner in which Major League teams operate in Latin America.

The first problem that Standards face in connection with implementation is their lack of binding status as MLRs. Implementation and enforcement of standards implies, by definition and logic, that the standards be obligatory not voluntary. The Standards are not MLRs, and we sense that the Commissioner’s Office has no intention of taking the Standards, revised or not, through the formal rule-making process of Major League Baseball.

The second problem with the Standards in connection with the principle of implementation is that they contain nothing about implementation. The title of the document we examined included the phrase "Compliance Inspection Procedure," suggesting that the Standards would include an inspection process in order to ensure implementation and enforcement of the Standards. The copy of the Standards we analyzed contained no inspection or enforcement language of any kind, not even a section indicating that such rules would be forthcoming at a later date.

The title of the document we considered could, of course, mean that the Commissioner’s Office intends to create an inspection process but has not yet done so in the Standards for various reasons. In light of this possibility, it is prudent to reserve criticism and judgment until such inspection process is grafted onto the Standards.

We emphasize, however, the critical importance of having implementation machinery built into the Standards. The Commissioner’s Office is well aware of the need for such machinery in connection with standards created in the MLRs, and had precedents in the MLRs that could have served as a basis for an inspection regime in the Standards. We are thinking, for example, of MLR 58(b) and (c) that empower the Commissioner’s Office to inspect minor league playing facilities for compliance with the relevant MLRs and set out a process by which non-compliance can be remedied by the clubs in question or punished. The principle of harmonization also strengthens the need for implementation machinery because minor league facilities in both North and Latin America should be subject to inspection to ensure team implementation of quality standards.

Our review of the Standards raised other issues and questions of a more technical and detailed nature that we do not include in this memorandum. Our objective has been to evaluate the standards against the reform principles of centralization, harmonization, specialization, and implementation. Our analysis demonstrates that:

1. The Commissioner’s Office must make the Standards binding as MLRs to comply effectively with the centralization principle.
2. The Commissioner’s Office must revise the Standards to make them more uniform with rules and protections that exist in the MLRs in order to fulfill the principle of harmonization.
3. The Commissioner’s Office must improve the work it has done to craft specific rules for the Latin baseball academies by broadening and deepening the coverage of such rules in order to satisfy the principle of specialization.
4. The Commissioner’s Office must create inspection machinery through which the rules regulating Latin baseball academies are effectively implemented by Major League teams and enforced by the Commissioner’s Office.

* * *

Each Latin American academy and complex must maintain a facility that complies with these Standards. There are two classifications of standards, recommendations and requirements. Recommendations are standards that it is suggested that all facilities comply with in order to promote a better operation in Latin America. All facilities must comply with the standards identified as requirements. These standards apply to both new and existing facilities. Requirements will be identify by the terms "must" or "shall".

All field dimensions shall comply with the minimum dimensions specified in Section 1.04 of the Official Baseball Rules.

Each facility shall provide a field surface without major defects, safety hazards or "trip-hazards" that could affect the normal play of the game or safety of the players. Warning track material shall be continuous and identify all zones within 15 feet of all walls and fences. This warning track must be of a material to provide visual and tactile notice of a significant change in surface type.

Each facility must provide a bullpen area for each team. These areas may be located in foul territory. It is recommended that each bullpen mound be visible from the dugouts or the steps of both dugouts and from the press box. Each bullpen shall have two regulation pitching mounds and two home plates, adequate distance and clearance for each pitcher and catcher, and a bench for 10 players. If the bullpens are in foul ball areas, the side slopes of each mound shall not be steeper than 1:12 so as not to create a trip hazard for fielders as they approach the bullpen.

In addition, each dugout (visitors and home) should have access to a bathroom with a toilet and lavatory. This bathroom could be portable.

Each facility must provide two enclosed dugouts (home and visitor). Each dugout must include a bench with a minimum length of 38 feet to accommodate 25 to 30 uniformed personnel. A bench with seatback is recommended. It is recommended that each dugout have a helmet rack for a minimum of 15 helmets and a bat rack for a minimum of 30 bats. It is recommended that a bat swing/storage area be directly accessible to each dugout. It is recommended that each dugout include refrigerated water coolers and provide direct access to a restroom. All dugouts shall provide as feasible an anti-skid surface as possible on steps and walkways, such as wood, matting or artificial turf, but not roughened concrete.

1. HOME CLUBHOUSE/DRESSING AREA

Each facility shall provide at least five more lockers than the club’s active player limit. The minimum size of each locker shall be 24 inches wide by 72 inches high (36 inches wide by 72 inches high is recommended). A lockable storage compartment is recommended for each locker.

Minimum floor space requirements for the team dressing area (excluding training, lavatory and shower/drying areas) shall be 800 square feet (1,000 square feet is recommended).

2. SHOWER AND TOILET FACILITIES

Each facility shall provide separate shower, and toilet areas with the following minimum fixture counts:

• Shower heads: 6 (8 recommended)
• Water closets: 2
• Urinals: 2
• Lavatories: 2 (4 recommended)

Each facility shall provide a separate training room for the home club of not less than 175 square feet (300 square feet is recommended) divided into three areas: treatment, whirlpool and rehabilitation. The training room shall have space for at least 2 treatment tables and a hydroculator. It is recommended that the following be provided: space for a second whirlpool, scale, stationary bicycle, ice machine and an area for 2 or 3 pieces of rehabilitation/weight equipment. It is recommended that the training room contain a lockable storage area for training supplies. It is recommended that additional space be provided for a separate office/dressing area for the trainer and team physician. It is also recommended that a storage box for valuables be installed in the training room.

It is recommended that each facility provide adequate lockable equipment storage space (minimum of 300 square feet is recommended) contiguous with the clubhouse.

5. COACHES’ LOCKERS

Each facility shall provide a minimum of 4 coach’s locker per club (6 are recommended) in addition to the players’ lockers. These lockers shall be at least 24 inches wide by 72 inches high. These lockers shall be in a separate room from the players’ lockers.

Each facility shall provide a field’s manager’s office with direct access to the home clubhouse. It is recommended that such office include a separate toilet, shower and dressing area, along with a minimum space of 100 square feet for a desk and meeting space.

Each facility shall provide a full cover-batting cage. Each batting cages shall have minimum dimensions of 18 feet wide, 14 feet deep and 9 feet high. It is recommended

that the cage be portable and made of an aluminum frame to provide maximum maintainability. It is recommended that a gate large enough to allow the batting cage to be freely taken and from the playing field be provided. Periodic checks of the batting cage and all screens shall be performed to verify frame and net integrity.

Each facility shall provide a pitching screen, first base screen, 2^nd. Base/double play screen, and a shag protector screen. Screens shall have the following minimum dimensions:

• Pitching Screen: 7 feet high x 8 feet wide with a 4 foot x 4 foot notch in upper corner.
• Double Play Screen: 7 feet high x 14 feet wide with hinged wings.
• First base and shag protector screens: 7 feet high x 8 feet wide.

Periodic checks of the batting cage and all screens shall be performed to verify frame and net integrity.

Each facility shall provide a solid monochromatic batter’s eye painted in flat black, flat dark green or flat navy blue, centered in the outfield. The minimum dimensions of the batter’s eye shall be 20 feet high and 5 feet wide in all facilities opened or under construction before the conclusion of the 1997 championship season, and shall be 40 feet high and 80 feet wide for all other facilities.

Effective with the 1998 championship season:

No facility shall have advertising signs located on the batter’s eye, below the batter’s eye or above the batter’s eye, provided, however, that signs may be located above the batter’s eye if no part of the sign is lower than a height of 40 feet.

4. FOUL POLES

Each facility shall provide two foul poles of a bright color, which are a minimum of 30 feet high (45 feet high is recommended) with a screen to the fair side of the pole. No white signs shall be allowed immediately adjacent to each side of the foul pole.

5. FLAG POLE

It is recommended that each facility provide a flagpole for the national flag of the nation in which the facility is located in clear view of the entire seating bowl.

6. BACKSTOP

Each facility shall provide a backstop behind home plate. The configuration and dimensions shall vary due to sight lines for the press box and insurance requirements for the facility. Periodic inspections shall be performed to insure the integrity of the backstop.

This section outlines requirements and recommendations for overall maintenance of the facility and playing field in a professional manner.

The clubhouses and all public areas are required to be clean, freshly painted and completely free of trash and rubbish. Each facility shall follow a maintenance program for interior repairs and touch-ups to maintain the professional atmosphere of the facility. Long-term maintenance shall be ongoing in order to deter major facility problems and to minimize potential disruptions to the layers and public.

The playing field shall be maintained at the highest possible professional level. Every reasonable effort shall be made to insure the safety of the players and the smooth lay of the game. The facility shall follow professional grounds keeping practices and shall utilize proper maintenance equipment. Nail-drags, screens, tampers and rakes are recommended to maintain all dirt areas. Proper turf care equipment (mowers, tractors, etc.) shall be used, and an appropriate maintenance plan shall be developed and followed to care for the playing field.

1. PLAYING FIELD RECONDITIONING

The pitcher’s mound and base pit areas shall be reconditioned prior to each game through the use of clay materials and tampers.

2. FIELD MAINTENANCE MATERIALS

It is recommended that each facility have a sufficient amount of drying material on hand at all times for reconditioning the infield. A chemical drying agent and/or calsonite clay may be used in combination with sand to stabilize areas affected by excessive moisture. Sand should not be the sole drying agent.

3. LAYOUT OF PLAYING FIELD

The entire playing field shall be laid out to coincide with the provisions of Sections 1.04 through 1.08 of the Official Baseball Rules.

1. PUBLIC TELEPHONES

It is recommended that each facility provide public telephones

5.2 DRINKING FOUNTAINS

It is recommended that each facility provide drinking fountains and that such fountains be distributed in accordance with the distribution of the seating locations and existing system to allow minimal waking distances from all parts of the facility.

3. SEATING FACILITIES

It is required that each facility provides seating for at least 25 people (recommended to provided seating facilities for 50 people).

1. FIRST AID KIT

It is recommended that each facility has available a first aid kit during all events. It is recommended that certified medical personnel staff be present at all events.

The building for housing players could be any of the following facilities: hotel, rented house, dormitory at baseball complex or any other building/facility prepared for this purpose.

It is recommended that the building/facility chosen for housing players is located in a secure area with easy access to public transportation.

1. DORMITORY CLEANLINESS

The dormitory and all public areas are required to be clean, freshly painted and completely free of trash and rubbish. Each facility shall follow a maintenance program for interior repairs and touch-ups to maintain the professional atmosphere of the facility.

Areas are recommended to be painted once a year and dormitories must be clean at least once every day.

Teams should place responsibility on players to make their own beds and maintain order at all times in dormitories.

2. BEDS

Player’s bed can be single or double and it can be made out of iron or wood. They must be strong enough to support a player without any type of movement or sound.

3. MATTRESSES

All mattresses must be at least 5-6 inches thick. Only one mattress should be used per player.

4. BED CLOTHING

Bed clothing should be clean at all times and it should be washed at least 3 times a week.

6. LOCKERS/CLOSET SPACE

Each player must have a locker/closet space available to put clothes. Lockers/closets must have locks to protect players’ property.

7. VENTILATION

Good air ventilation must be provided to all players at dorms. The quantity and types of fans needed to provide this ventilation will depend on the layout of beds in dormitories. For dormitories with double beds ventilation must be assure to players on both levels of beds.

Each facility shall provide separate shower and toilet areas with the following minimum fixture counts:

• Shower heads: 6 (8 recommended)
• Water closets: 2
• Urinals: 2
• Lavatories: 2 (4 recommended)

Bathrooms must be cleaned at least once a day. No dirt or stains are allowed to be seen on walls, toilets, urinals or floor. It is recommended to teams to provide all players with rubber sandals.

3.1 FOOD

Each club shall provide players with 3 meals a day. During Summer Leagues these meals should be complemented with 1 snack. Each facility must follow a written menu certified by a nutritionist to assure a completed and balanced nutrition to players.

3. HYGINE AND EQUIPMENT

Kitchen area must be cleaned at least twice a day and each facility shall provide all kitchen staff with hair protection and gloves (uniforms are recommended).

Each facility shall provide a water cooler at dinning area. The water used at this area must come from a purification system (filter) or bottled water. In addition, the ice used in the cafeteria must be made with filtered water.

Each facility must have a minimum area for food storage facility and freezers/refrigerators must be kept in good working conditions.

Each facility must have fumigation against insects at least once every 90 days. All suppliers must certified the work done on the facilities and specified the type of controls they are applying. A written report of each visit must remain in the facility.

Each facility shall provide an adequate room for English or other enrichment programs. This room must have chairs and tables for players to sit comfortably and provide them with a good learning environment. The instructors hired to teach classes to players must have the proper background and qualifications.

Each facility shall provide a supervised workout program for development of players. This program will have a qualify person supervising players’ activities and routines as well as the facilities and equipment being used by players.

The team must provide adequate work our facilities. These facilities could be rented or owned by the team.