Elvin Castillo condemns bill that would take away part of his bonus from signed baseball players

Santo Domingo.- Journalist and coordinator of the program Panorama de la Mañana, Elvin Castillo, lashed out this Thursday against the bill submitted by the senator of El Seibo, Santiago Zorrilla, which seeks to establish new regulations in the signing of young Dominican baseball players, including charges that would directly affect their income at the time of being recruited.

Castillo warned that the legislative proposal plans to force academies to pay taxes, which, in practice, will end up coming from the same money of the young baseball players, limiting the economic benefit they receive when signing with professional baseball teams.

“They are going to force the academies to pay taxes and that will obligatorily come out of the players’ money. The players are going to give half to the academy in addition to the taxes, and they are going to sign for nothing,” denounced the analyst.

Castillo, who has been a systematic critic of the lack of public investment in sports, questioned the legitimacy of the State to impose taxes on athletes’ income without having contributed anything to their development.

“The State doesn’t contribute anything to help that boy become a professional baseball player. It doesn’t even buy a glove,” he emphasized.

The communicator called on Dominican Major League baseball players such as David Ortiz and Pedro Martínez to speak out publicly against this initiative, considering that, if approved, it will affect the economic future of thousands of young people who see baseball as their only opportunity for social advancement.

On other occasions, Castillo has been critical of the lack of public policies that promote sports and raises the need to improve the conditions of local athletes who, until now, develop with limitations.