Bobby Valentine Says the Dominican Republic Is the Problem, Not MLB

Bobby V’s involvement as producer of “Ballplayer: Pelotero” has been making waves locally (surprise, surprise). Elsewhere, though, it’s the bigger picture of scouting star baseball players from the Dominican Republic — stars like David Ortiz, who got a $10,000 signing bonus upon signing his first MLB contract in 1992, the same year Derek Jeter signed with the Yankees for $800,000 and Jeffrey Hammonds (who?) signed with the Orioles for a $975,000 bonus. “I don’t think the issue is with Major League Baseball,” Valentine told the LA Times. “They’ve made great strides in reforming the system. What’s questionable in one country isn’t in another. What you see is the way people have done business there for years.” [LA Times]