The MLB and its Dominican pipeline is selling false promises and shady contracts to children as young as 11

Baseball is just as much a Dominican sport as it is an American one.

For generations, the MLB has relied on the small island country for a steady stream of young talent.

Now, a new investigation by ProPublica may explain why: boys barely old enough to swing a bat are reportedly being promised multimillion-dollar deals.

They’re training for professional careers all before they’re legally eligible to sign contracts, which often leave them vulnerable if they do succeed in the big leagues.

The Dominican Republic has become baseball’s largest talent pipeline outside the U.S.

In 2025, 144 players born in the country appeared in the major leagues, accounting for roughly 10% of MLB players.

Baseball America calculates Dominican-born players accounted for 10.5% of MLB plate appearances that season through September. (function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})(); The country’s importance begins well before the players even reach the majors.

MLB’s international signing system generally doesn’t allow teams to sign international amateurs until they are 16 (players are eligible if their 16th birthday falls before September 1 of the year they sign).

But reports from ProPublica allege that teams routinely negotiate informal agreements with Dominican prospects years before they are eligible to sign.

ProPublica claims families and young players would receive advanced payments in handshake agreements before their signing bonuses arrive—often carrying interest rates that would be illegal under U.S. usury laws.

One player profiled by the investigation later was found to have received about $2,500 at a rate of 30% every two weeks.

And the repayment also carries over to big league money, according to the report.

Up to 35% of signing bonuses from major league clubs are allegedly fair game for these lenders, and the contracts signed by the young players can restrict their ability to step away from baseball—according to ProPublica ’s report.

And this isn’t new: a whistleblower made the same claims to the FBI in 2020, according to USA Today .