The insular world of Baseball Twitter has been in something of hubbub, in the past week. Despite the headlines, there’s no guarantees that an 11-year-old like David Basabe will ever see a dime for his efforts. But this is not the case, as MLB teams are prohibited from actually paying these families before the players come of age. Such agreements are frequently used throughout the Latin American baseball world to target promising players from countries like the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Colombia, although an agreement for an 11-year-old is a new precedent for MLB. There are so, so many ways that the skilled 11-year-old you’re targeting ends up as a non-viable baseball player at the major league level.

Source: New York Times February 19, 2026 05:43 UTC