2013]
PART OF THE TEAM
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the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), whose only relevant provision for this discussion is the requirement that MLB teams offer English-as-asecond-language courses if any major league player requests it. 187 Additionally, MLB maintains an office in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, which has established rules regarding field conditions, housing, and nutrition in the academies. 188 Therefore, the rules governing MLB’s conduct in the Dominican Republic are the bare-bones requirements found in Rule 3(a)(1)(B)(i) and (ii) requiring that players are either 17 when signed, or will be 17 by the end of the current season. 189 That means most players in the Dominican MLB academies receive little outside training besides baseball-related English classes, and even then it is generally agreed that players do not develop English skills until they come to the United States.190 Given the unique features of the academy system— including very young players, dire poverty, lack of government regulation, and an incredibly small chance of success—it is unlikely that Dominican players will develop the bargaining power necessary to substantially change their conditions. Any player who speaks out would likely be immediately let go from the academy. As such, the pressure to develop a code of conduct will need to come from an outside combination of public and MLBPA pressure, backed by the guidelines furnished by international labor and human rights law. Although the MLB rules govern player selection and development, whenever there is conflict between the rules and the CBA, the CBA governs.191 This means that players through the MLBPA have the ability to shape the rules to protect labor rights in the Dominican Republic. In fact, given the strength of the player’s association, its cooperation may be required to institute any rule change or corporate code of conduct governing MLB behavior in the Dominican Republic. Therefore, while an independent corporate code of conduct would help protect Dominican players, the player’s association insistence on adding the code to the CBA would carry additional moral force and operate not only as a self-imposed code but also as a binding contract with the MLBPA.
187
CBA, supra note 38, § 15(F). See Wasch, supra note 25, at 106 (quoting http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/ 2004-04-13-cover-latinos_x.htm). 189 MLR, supra note 11, § 3(a)(1)(B)(i)-(ii). 190 Tom Weir and Blane Bachelor, Spanish-Speaking Players Get Lesson in American Life, USA TODAY (Apr. 4, 2004), http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2004-04-13-coverlatinos_x.htm. 191 See CBA, supra note 38. 188