Baseball Business | The Baseball Zealot

MLB testing DNA of Latin American prospects

Bill Clark of the Columbia Daily Tribune writes about how Major League Baseball is entering the realm of DNA testing especially in Latin America.

In an attempt to eliminate cheating on age and identities in Latin America, particularly in the Dominican Republic, MLB has admitted to genetic testing to determine the true identity of players being signed, particularly those receiving big bonuses.

In addition to establishing the identity of players, it is possible to also provide clues to their age.

Federal legislation that was passed last year, will prohibit companies from testing employees (or a family member) on the basis of their DNA. This law will take effect on November 21 of this year. It is unclear how this U.S. law will affect American companies implementing these procedures in other countries.

Here is the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 in its entirety.

According to the New York Times, MLB has declined how many players have been tested and whether or not the test results were kept or destroyed. Given the situation with the recent controversy with the 2003 steroid list that was under law supposed to be kept under wraps, you can see where that can lead us.

The whole thing stinks to me. Major League Baseball has no business doing this. If they can find out what they need to know the old fashioned way by forging relationships and establishing communications, then they need to do their homework. DNA testing and the like is one more thing that will set their work down there backwards.

Dodgers beat the Yankees!… in attendance

2009 can be known as the year that the Dodgers toppled the Yankees… at least in attendance figures.

For the first time in six years, the Yankees didn’t lead the majors in total yearly attendance. They came in second. The top honor goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers who had 3,761,661 go through the turnstiles at Dodger Stadium.

Number 3 shouldn’t be a big surprise. Given their World Championship status and relatively large market, the Philadelphia Phillies grabbed that spot.

As for Chicago teams. the Cubs ranked sixth and the White Sox came in sixteenth in 2009.

Overall, Major League Baseball had a slight downturn in attendance from 2008 (6.6% less according to MLB.com) but with an attendance of 73,418,479, MLB is spinning it that this year is the fifth most attended year all time. Yay, Baseball.

For those attendance stat geeks, The Biz of Baseball does a good job of breaking it all down for us. Their pdf looking back at this past decade of MLB attendance team-by-team is quite detailed.

GMs falling like dominoes

Here it comes… the inevitable dismissal of general managers who in the eyes of the powers-that-be, just couldn’t cut the mustard.

Kevin Towers, general manager of the Padres was let go Friday. He was in his 14th season with the team.

And in the American League, J.P. Ricciardi was dismissed by the Toronto Blue Jays after eight years as general manager.

Perhaps this is just the New York Post stirring the rumor kettle but reports are the New York Mets are interested in either Towers or Ricciardi to work in the organization. Omar Minaya has reportedly called both to schedule a meeting.

Nationals will charge you less to watch them lose in 2010

With the season they had, this had to be coming. The Washington Nationals have lowered their ticket prices for many of their seats.

Here’s President Stan Kasten with the spin:

The Nationals are committed to providing a top-notch, affordable, fan experience for all guests. We are pleased to lower prices on over 3,300 seats, including over 2,000 in the lower bowl, and will continue to offer season ticket plans for as little as $10 per game. We thank our fans for their continued support of the Washington Nationals as we continue to build towards a winning ballclub in the Nation’s Capital.”

More details at The Biz of Baseball

Is Chipper walking away…

…or is he just blowing smoke?

“I’m not going to tolerate the numbers I have right now for very long,” Jones told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m certainly not going to stick around for a big contract if I’m not having fun and not producing.”

He left himself an out though.

“I’m not saying I’m retiring at the end of this year or the end of next year, but if I become an average player, I’m not sticking around,” he said. “I’m not going to hamstring the ballclub with the money I’m making, and I’m not going to be happy being a mediocre player.”

My guess is that he’s just blowing off steam after going through a nasty slump. He’s hit .117 in the last 23 games. He has two more years of a lucrative contract left. I doubt he’ll walk away from that.

MLB shilling for Dunkin Donuts

Oh, the interesting things I get in my inbox when I’m signed up for mlb.com’s Cubs email list.

Today, in MLB’s ongoing effort to justify their bottom line, I got an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts disguised as a contest. “Win Coffee for a Year!” they claim. But yeah, the fine print says you gotta sign up for their annoying DD Perks which no doubt means you give them all your personal information first.

The gist of it all is that nothing baseball related coming from this email. Unless their giving the hint that folks should be drinking more coffee at games and less beer.

I suppose I shouldn’t complain. It’s better than getting another email and hearing that the Cubs lost to the Nationals once again.

War of words between execs

Looks like MLS commish Don Garber and Yanks prez Randy Levine are having a hissy fight… all over the issue of attendance figures.

Sez Levine:

"Don Garber discussing Yankee attendance must be a joke. We draw more people in a year than his entire league does in a year. If he ever gets Major League Soccer into the same time zone as the Yankees, we might take him seriously… Hey Don, worry about Beckham, not the Yankees. Even he wants out of your league.

Garber had earlier made a comment about the empty front row seats at Yankee Stadium.

There’s no point in taking sides in this one. They’re both being idiotic. Garber is taking on the seven-headed giant and worse, Levine is stooping to respond to the comment in a rather childish manner.

Take a time out, guys.

Biz of Baseball has Final Payroll list

If you’re interested, The Biz of Baseball (becoming one of my favorite blogs on topic of what goes on in the ivory towers of baseball) has compiled a Final Payroll by Year of each MLB team.

The list is sorted and goes back to 2002.

Not much hope for improving blackout policies

For those hoping that MLB will be improving their blackout policy in regards to broadcasting games, well… don’t get your hopes up.

Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball has the scoop:

The chances of any movement on the blackout policy becomes ever more remote as the season approaches, and owners deal with a case of tunnel vision regarding economic factors…

Word is that MLB hopes to have a proposal to address the arcane blackout policy formulated by opening day. With owners grasping onto every thin dime, odds seem exceptionally long that restructuring the television territories will take place by the time the first pitch arrives on the 2009 season.

Here’s a link to the MLB blackout map.

I live three hours south of Chicago which is enough to black out the Sox, Cubs and the Cardinals. But you may as well not be a baseball fan in the state of Iowa (or do as my friend DonS does and follow an out-of-market team. The entire state of Iowa blacks out games of the Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Twins, Brewers, and the Royals.

Thank god for the Iowa Cubs, I guess.

Does Bud Selig deserve his raise?

So Bud Selig has gotten his extension and raise and a lot of detractors out there are already questioning the decision. I’m not really a Selig fan but let’s face it, from a business standpoint, it’s not surprising that he was given his contract extension and salary boost.

Yes, there are some high profile problems (steroids) and bonehead decisions (2002 All-Star Game) that remain a sore point with the fans. But when it comes to the important matters (money), at least when it comes to the owners and the business of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig is turning the trick.

Do you all remember when baseball was in its doldrums? Before Cal Ripken’s streak? Before McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s home run race? Even before that when NBA was king of sports? Not any longer. Baseball is now breaking attendance and revenue records.

Not only that, Major League Baseball has made strides in the online realm with one of the best pro sports web presence. Now I’m sure Selig didn’t have a whole lot to do with the day-to-day operations of MLB Advanced Media but it certainly happened under his watch.

Finally and this may be a stretch but can Selig take a little credit for some semblance of parity in the MLB? Is it possible that in the past few years, we’ve teams in smaller markets establish some success? Or is that just coincidence?

The point of all this is that MLB is a business and as of now, business is booming. Selig probably deserves what’s coming to him. The big question is how he’ll handle 2009 and what the economic downturn will deal the baseball industry.

Selig’s new contract takes him into 2012 when he’s said that he will retire. Selig haters, don’t hold your breath. He’s said this before.