Major League Baseball teams sign more players from the Dominican Republic than any nation except the U.S., with almost every neighborhood home to a baseball field where kids learn to play. The article reports on industry practices that can hurt young players and their families, including high expectations for performance at a young age and early agreements with teams. Dozens of trainers and players have spoken out about these issues. To share tips or experiences related to Dominican baseball, readers can text "baseball" to the number 1-917-207-6447 on WhatsApp.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-10,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Major League Baseball teams sign a large number of players from the Dominican Republic, second only to the U.S., each year. In the country, almost every neighborhood has a baseball field where kids as young as 4 years old start learning to play. As a result, many people in the Dominican Republic have some connection to the sport, whether it's a family member or themselves who hopes to become a professional player. However, industry practices can harm young players and their families. According to dozens of trainers and players**, adolescents are expected to perform at unusually high levels and enter into agreements with teams much earlier than in other countries. This has led to abusive moneylending practices that have been the subject of a recent story by ProPublica. The organization is now seeking more information from people whose lives are affected by these issues, encouraging them to share tips or experiences through WhatsApp messaging.
Written for “Dominican Baseball News” on 2026-09-10,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Major League Baseball teams sign more players from the Dominican Republic each year than any nation besides the U.S.
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teams → sign → U.S.
Almost every neighborhood is home to a baseball field where kids as young as 4 begin learning to play.
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kids → begin → 4
In our months of reporting, we’ve rarely come across anyone in the Dominican who doesn’t have some connection to the sport: a sibling or uncle or son who aspires to be a professional player, or who once did.
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who → report → sport
As beloved and important as baseball is in the Dominican, industry practices can hurt young players and their families.
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practices → hurt → players
Dozens of trainers and players have told us that adolescents are expected to perform at levels never asked of their peers from other countries and enter into agreements with teams at much earlier ages.
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adolescents → tell → ages
(We just published a story about abusive moneylending practices that have sprouted from this system.)
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that → publish → system
We’re planning more stories brought to our attention by this community.
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We → plan → community
We want this work to reach people whose lives are touched by the issues we’re investigating.
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we → want → issues
If that’s you, we want you to be able to easily connect with our reporting team and share tips or experiences you think we should know about Dominican baseball.
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we → ’ → baseball
The more people we hear from, the more impactful our reporting on these complex issues can be.
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reporting → hear → issues
For this series, we’re opening a WhatsApp line because it’s a popular way to keep in touch in the Dominican, and international calls and texts are free.
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calls → open → Dominican
All you have to do is text “baseball” to our WhatsApp number, 1-917-207-6447.
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you → have → number
If you’re not a WhatsApp user, if you can still get in touch with our reporting team via email:
- Gus Garcia-Roberts: [email protected]
- Maryam Jameel: [email protected]
If you would prefer another way to get in touch, see our advice here.
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you → ’re → advice
What can you expect if you text our number?
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you → expect → number
You’ll get a link to our latest stories about baseball.
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You → get → baseball
We’ll also ask about your connection to baseball and ask you to share anything that you think our reporters should look into as we continue investigating.
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we → ask → that
If you give us permission, we’ll also send you quick updates from our series every now and then.
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we → give → series
We want to hear about baseball-related issues and experiences that are important to you, whether they’re connected to finances, health, education or something else.
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they → want → finances
Below are a few of the topics we’re already reporting on; if you have related experiences to share, we would appreciate hearing about them.
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we → report → them
- Illness and injury related to performance pressure
- Wide availability of anabolic steroids and consequences of use
- Conditions at training academies (pensiones)
If you have a connection to baseball — whether you’re a current or former player, trainer, parent of a player, doctor who treats athletes, someone who works for an MLB team or you have some other link — we would love to hear from you.
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we → relate → you
If I don’t have a connection to baseball but want to follow along, should I sign up?
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I → have → baseball
Yes, we’ll share updates from our investigations, along with links to our latest reporting.
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we → share → reporting
What if I know someone who has a connection to baseball?
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who → know → baseball
Please send them a link to our baseball series or have them text “baseball” to our WhatsApp number, 1-917-207-6447.
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them → send → number
And thank you — we need to reach as many people as we can.
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we → thank → people
What will you do with the information I share with you?
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I → do → you
We will read everything you send and follow up with you if we have further questions or are interested in including something you’ve shared in our investigations.
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you → read → investigations
We take your privacy very seriously.
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We → take → privacy
Our reporters speak to people every day who want to share information but fear retribution.
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who → speak → retribution
Our reputation is built on protecting sources, and we take that responsibility to heart.
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we → build → heart
You can request to speak on background, which means you would not be named in our stories.
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you → request → stories
Will ProPublica sell my information to anyone?
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ProPublica → sell → anyone
