Ozzie Guillen went on record yesterday saying that Asian players get preferential treatment in the major leagues over Hispanic players.  Here is a Tony Ginnetti piece telling you exactly what he said.  And, in some ways he is correct- but the reasons aren’t quite as simple as he made it seem.

Thousands of Hispanic players are signed as amateur free agents each year.  Many, now, come through academies where they have learned some English.  But even if you come from a country where English is not prevalent, each team sends players to a bit of an orientation that teaches them a little English, and some life skills.  This isn’t a detailed course and Ozzie is quite right, many of these players are left to either sink or swim.  A point that was made on SportsCenter last night was that rarely is there only one Hispanic player in a clubhouse, so usually they can at least work together to get through certain experiences.  They also spend a fair amount of time moving through the minor leagues, so they can slowly learn how to communicate with their American teammates both on and off the field.

Asian players are not, at this point in time, signed as amateur free agents, at least not en masse.  They come over here after playing for a number of years in the professional leagues, as proven commodities.  They have some negotiating power, and are able to get a translator in their contracts.  Asian players who don’t get the team to pay for the translator are also coming into the league making enough money that they can hire a translator for themselves as well.  Most Asians never spend a day in the minor leagues.  They show up at the major league level and have to be able to communicate in baseball terms immediately.

Ozzie is probably right, the teams need to do more for their Spanish speaking players to help them acclimate to the United States.  Each team probably needs a translator- not every organization, but every minor league team.  But MLB franchises aren’t going to start spending that money on players until they are sure that their players will give them that value back.  Perhaps Ozzie talking about such things will get them to change.  Perhaps that is all Ozzie is trying to do.