Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Mexican sports agent swings at MLB

Claims a "conspiracy" funnels players' paychecks to Mexican league clubs

Major League Baseball isn't playing fair with pro-caliber Mexicans, claims David Gonzalez Camacho, a trainer with roots in both Tijuana and San Diego and the father of former Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

Gonzalez describes himself in a superior-court complaint as a trainer and promoter of "young, talented and high caliber Mexican baseball players" who seek roles in both minor and major league baseball in the United States.

Though he's not a plaintiff, most of the complaint revolves around the story of Daniel Pesqueira, who hired Gonzalez as his agent in 2010.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In February of 2012, Gonzalez secured a spring-training tryout for Pesqueira with the Boston Red Sox (for whom Adrian was playing at the time), including a visa that allowed him to travel for that purpose. According to Gonzalez, his client fit in well with the club and was impressing scouts when he was sent home in March after being told that he was under contract with the Mexico City Red Devils, a Mexican major league team, and that any contract negotiations would have to be handled through the club that owned his rights.

U.S. baseball has long enjoyed an array of sometimes-controversial antitrust exemptions. It is not uncommon, for example, for major league teams to pay Japanese teams for the "right" to recruit their players; and in the Mexican leagues, teams can retain as much as 75 percent of a player's first U.S. contract as a commission.

For an example, Gonzalez cites Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Luis Heredia, who signed in 2010 for $2.6 million, $2 million of which was retained by the Veracruz Red Eagles, who held his Mexican league contract. By comparison, Gonzalez’s agreed fee of 30 percent of his client's earnings sounds quite reasonable.

The problem is that, according to Gonzalez and Pesqueira, there was no contract with the Red Devils. Pesqueira claims his signature on a two-page, boilerplate "contract" that did not specify terms of his employ was falsified, possibly lifted from a medical release he signed when invited to workout with the team.

Regardless, American teams continue to refuse to negotiate with Pesqueira except through the Red Devils. Gonzalez says it's a civil conspiracy intended to interfere with Mexican players' economic rights, one that's kept Pesqueira from training with or playing for any teams due to the refusal of American teams to deal with him.

Major League Baseball moved to dismiss a similar suit aimed at the league last year, stating that Gonzalez’s dispute, and Pesqueira's, was with the Mexican leagues.

Gonzalez re-filed last week, this time including Major League Baseball, its affiliates, and the office of the commissioner. The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the Asociación de Equipos Profesionales de Béisbol de la Liga Mexicana, and Minor League Baseball are the named defendants. He's seeking more than $10 million in damages.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Major League Baseball isn't playing fair with pro-caliber Mexicans, claims David Gonzalez Camacho, a trainer with roots in both Tijuana and San Diego and the father of former Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

Gonzalez describes himself in a superior-court complaint as a trainer and promoter of "young, talented and high caliber Mexican baseball players" who seek roles in both minor and major league baseball in the United States.

Though he's not a plaintiff, most of the complaint revolves around the story of Daniel Pesqueira, who hired Gonzalez as his agent in 2010.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In February of 2012, Gonzalez secured a spring-training tryout for Pesqueira with the Boston Red Sox (for whom Adrian was playing at the time), including a visa that allowed him to travel for that purpose. According to Gonzalez, his client fit in well with the club and was impressing scouts when he was sent home in March after being told that he was under contract with the Mexico City Red Devils, a Mexican major league team, and that any contract negotiations would have to be handled through the club that owned his rights.

U.S. baseball has long enjoyed an array of sometimes-controversial antitrust exemptions. It is not uncommon, for example, for major league teams to pay Japanese teams for the "right" to recruit their players; and in the Mexican leagues, teams can retain as much as 75 percent of a player's first U.S. contract as a commission.

For an example, Gonzalez cites Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Luis Heredia, who signed in 2010 for $2.6 million, $2 million of which was retained by the Veracruz Red Eagles, who held his Mexican league contract. By comparison, Gonzalez’s agreed fee of 30 percent of his client's earnings sounds quite reasonable.

The problem is that, according to Gonzalez and Pesqueira, there was no contract with the Red Devils. Pesqueira claims his signature on a two-page, boilerplate "contract" that did not specify terms of his employ was falsified, possibly lifted from a medical release he signed when invited to workout with the team.

Regardless, American teams continue to refuse to negotiate with Pesqueira except through the Red Devils. Gonzalez says it's a civil conspiracy intended to interfere with Mexican players' economic rights, one that's kept Pesqueira from training with or playing for any teams due to the refusal of American teams to deal with him.

Major League Baseball moved to dismiss a similar suit aimed at the league last year, stating that Gonzalez’s dispute, and Pesqueira's, was with the Mexican leagues.

Gonzalez re-filed last week, this time including Major League Baseball, its affiliates, and the office of the commissioner. The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the Asociación de Equipos Profesionales de Béisbol de la Liga Mexicana, and Minor League Baseball are the named defendants. He's seeking more than $10 million in damages.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Next Article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.