Asian players have translators Latinos do not

[BuccoFla]

Never thought about this before but Ozzie has a point.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AgzHNr_8Gt_s4fqmMj49dBoRvLYF?slug=ap-whitesox-guillenrant

[GoBucs21]

I think the answer is pretty easy.  Almost every team at every organizational level already has bi-lingual players who can act as translators for Latin American players.  Still, I don't necessarily disagree with Ozzie that Asian players are treated better than Latin American players.

[WTM]

Maybe, but the White Sox probably should get a translator to translate everything Ozzie says into Urdu so he can't be quoted any more.

[81omar]

    Guillen should go to the Pirates Dominican Academy someday if he thinks things are really as bad as he says everywhere,these kids go to school almost everyday there. I dont think he puts much thought into what he says though,he just rants and people go to him because they know he will.

[GoBucs21]

   Guillen should go to the Pirates Dominican Academy someday if he thinks things are really as bad as he says everywhere,these kids go to school almost everyday there. I dont think he puts much thought into what he says though,he just rants and people go to him because they know he will.

I'm not responding about the Pirates or wha they are doing in regard to Latin players.  Latin players are generally treated pretty poorly.

[81omar]

   Guillen should go to the Pirates Dominican Academy someday if he thinks things are really as bad as he says everywhere,these kids go to school almost everyday there. I dont think he puts much thought into what he says though,he just rants and people go to him because they know he will.

I'm not responding about the Pirates or wha they are doing in regard to Latin players.  Latin players are generally treated pretty poorly.

   Thats why I said everywhere....Pirates were given major props in a recent Times article in regards to how they treat Dominican players

  Also he's way off on things not changing,maybe he should check before he says stuff.I think Sandy Alderson would have something to say about that

  I really dont take much he says serious and his son is just as bad as him,he's trying to be the next Ozzie

[Steve Zielinski]

Well, Ozzie, from Wikipedia:

Spanish is the second most-common language in the United States after English. There are more Spanish speakers in the U.S. than there are speakers of Chinese, French, Hawaiian, and the Native American languages combined. According to the 2007 American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Spanish is the primary language spoken at home by over 34 million people aged 5 or older. There are 45 million Hispanics who speak Spanish as a first or second language and there are 6 million Spanish students, making it the world's tenth-largest Spanish-speaking community, only after Mexico and ahead of Spain, Colombia and Argentina. Roughly half of all U.S. Spanish speakers also speak English "very well", based on the self-assessment Census question respondents.

More Spanish speakers in the United States than in Spain! Waddyaknow!

The link: http://tinyurl.com/26r2h2z

[The Great Goemon]

Well, I think it's obvious that Japanese and Korean player have more leverage in negotiations with MLB teams and therefore get privileges like personal translators. If the DR was as wealthy as Japan and had its own pro league where young Dominicans could make millions without ever going to MLB, they would get more privileges as well.

The real problem is that the DR and Venezuela are so poor.

[blackmax]

"Yo la tengo!"  - Richie Ashburn.

[EJP]

I am sure some on here have seen it but the movie Sugar seems to give a pretty good indication of what it would be like for a Latin baseball player as they come up through the low minors.  It would be very tough to adjust to everyday life, such as ordering a meal while playing in some small times in the low minors.

[SpeedyG]

There are a lot of reasonable explanations to nearly every argument he makes about Latin players.

[GoBucs21]

I am sure some on here have seen it but the movie Sugar seems to give a pretty good indication of what it would be like for a Latin baseball player as they come up through the low minors.  It would be very tough to adjust to everyday life, such as ordering a meal while playing in some small times in the low minors.

I haven't seen the movie but I have seen, first hand, what Latin American players have to go through.

[scrapiron]

I am sure some on here have seen it but the movie Sugar seems to give a pretty good indication of what it would be like for a Latin baseball player as they come up through the low minors.  It would be very tough to adjust to everyday life, such as ordering a meal while playing in some small times in the low minors.

I haven't seen the movie but I have seen, first hand, what Latin American players have to go through.

Please elaborate. What kind of suffering are the ballclubs causing them?  Is it any different that what Rinku and Singh have had to deal with?  Is it any different that what any non-english speaking immigrant has to deal with?  I doubt it.  Should every LA player have a personal interpreter at their side at all times? 

On the other point Guillen tries to make, instead of saying MLB is doing nothing about ped's in LA he should look at the buscones and other leeches that benefit if the kid gets signed.  It's not MLB down there peddling the stuff. 

[wat.da.buc.up]

With the amount of Latin people in America, its much easier for them to come to American than the Asian players or even Americans going to Latin America. Especially when they first start in the GCL/AZL. There are some places in FLA that you can't go unless you speak spanish. Heck, at Verizon stores in FLA they have spanish speaking people that work there, take a drive down 9th street towards Mckecknie and you will see a car dealership that has a sign "se habla Espanol" also they have a Hispanic food sectional in almost all Walmarts around the country. You wouldn't find signs in the Dominican (the real DR not the resorts) saying "we speak english here" And in response to him saying Latin prospects are "too old at 16 or 17" to sign, that is in Latin years, so that really means 20 or 21 in American years.

[shayborg]

With the amount of Latin people in America, its much easier for them to come to American than the Asian players or even Americans going to Latin America. Especially when they first start in the GCL/AZL. There are some places in FLA that you can't go unless you speak spanish. Heck, at Verizon stores in FLA they have spanish speaking people that work there, take a drive down 9th street towards Mckecknie and you will see a car dealership that has a sign "se habla Espanol" also they have a Hispanic food sectional in almost all Walmarts around the country. You wouldn't find signs in the Dominican (the real DR not the resorts) saying "we speak english here" And in response to him saying Latin prospects are "too old at 16 or 17" to sign, that is in Latin years, so that really means 20 or 21 in American years.

Florida is pretty much the ideal destination for a Latin American minor leaguer for the reasons you give. But most of the US would be much more difficult. As someone else mentioned, the movie Sugar is a really interesting look (although I can't say if it's accurate) at the life.