Why a Padres coach’s ICE detainment concerns all 30 MLB teams
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analyst Jake Mintz is joined by Katie Woo of The Athletic to discuss Oswaldo Pirela's recent detainment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso and the potential impact on other organizations around Major League Baseball. Check out the full conversation on the "Baseball Bar-B-Cast" podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
This is a, like the Mark Walters situation, a conversation much larger than the scope of our baseball world.
But as it pertains to Major League Baseball, what I- is important here is this: the number of foreigners that are engaged in the baseball world, people that are not American citizens, is signif- significant and goes beyond big league rosters, and Oswaldo Pareja is a really strong example of that.
Whether it's minor league coaches, or scouts, or the family members of minor leaguers or major leaguers, there are a lot of people that are at risk of being deported as part of the baseball world.
When Rob Manfred made the kind of a, a under the radar trip to the White House a number of years ago, which resulted in Pete Rose having his Hall of Fame status changed and reconsidered, part of the unspoken assumption there is that the Trump administration would sort of turn a blind eye to, not a blind eye necessarily, but not be as vigorous in its, aggressive policies in applying it to the world of professional baseball.
And really up until this point, that has been the case.
This is a departure from that.
It is scary.
It is concerning.
This is someone who i- it seems has a work permit, but did not have it with him.
If he is the catching coordinator for the San Diego Padres, that is someone who, very, feels like they are allowed to be in this country.
Katie, there is just so much bubbling around this, but I f- should give you the floor to, to give a comment on it.
I think scary is, is the, the word I would use for this.
I mean, you, you hit it spot on.
The amount of, of presence of, for, for people that were even not, not American citizens is so prevalent in especially scouting lower levels of the minor leagues.
I mean, we talk about all the time teams needing to invest more in Latin America players and Latin America complexes.
And when you're the San Diego Padres, you are so, so close to Tijuana and Mexico there.
Yeah.
It just seems like there is so m- so much crossover, and it's a really tough situation, right?
If, if having, you know Fact that he, according to these reports and according to the statement, did not have his work papers just really complicates what is already a scary situation.
But the, the moral of the story is here is every single baseball team, all 30 MLB organizations, have players or have staff members like this that are, are working for their professional organizations and have to travel between Latin America or, and the United States- Yeah or pick your country, to do their jobs.
And this is just a really scary situation where you hope has a resolution.
I mean, it's already I bel- I would- I'm sure, traumatic, but hopefully going forward can minimize that trauma- Yeah and just get it over with as soon as possible.
