This article explores the globalization of U. S. Major League Baseball (MLB), measured by the participation of foreign-born players in the sport from 1876 to 2005. Data show that the number of non-native athletes has been increasing since the end of World War II, suggesting that MLB is becoming a more globalized organization. An investigation at regional and country levels reveals that most foreign participants in the 1990s and early 21st century are from Latin America, especially the Dominican Republic. In contrast, most African, European, and Asian countries have shown little sign of participation. This implies that the global reach of MLB is limited. An empirical study of 2005 data suggests that prosperous countries, neighboring countries, or countries having a close political relationship with the U. S. tend to provide more athletes to MLB. In other words, the globalization of MLB is reliant on America's economic, cultural, and geographic proximity to the rest of the world.

This study evaluates the relationship between different types of player prospects selected in the Major League Baseball amateur draft and their signing bonuses relative to where in the draft they were selected. In a perfect market differences in prospects’ statistical likelihoods of reaching the major leagues should be reflected in their relative signing bonus. The research reported here found that college players, regardless of position, have a higher likelihood of reaching the major leagues than high school players but this is not reflected in their signing bonus indicating that college players continue to be undervalued in the draft. Outfielders were found to reach the major leagues at a significantly lower rate than other players in other positions but are not penalized financially for the decreased likelihood of reaching the major leagues indicating an overvaluation of outfielders.

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This paper considers whether the implementation of an international draft by Major League Baseball (MLB) will be possible. Over the last five years, the MLB has increasingly placed more stringent limitations on international spending, which has limited the bargaining power of international free agents. Many in the international market believe that the agreement between the MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) during the 2016 Collective Bargaining (CBA) negotiations are progressing towards an international draft, which would have a crippling effect on the future of baseball in many foreign countries. This paper is focused on the countries that stand to suffer the most should an international draft be implemented: the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Cuba. Currently there is little reliable research on this topic. Based on extensive research and interviews with both current and former international scouts, MLB baseball operations personnel, and employees working in the Labor Department in the MLB Commissioner’s Office, this paper suggests that while the MLB maintains that an international draft will be implemented in upcoming collective bargaining agreements, the obstacles in implementing an international draft will prove to be insurmountable.

A historical overview of the collective bargaining process in the three major American sports, and a comparative analysis of the current collective bargaining agreements.

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Previous empirical research on variable pay systems have suggested that possible gains can come from paying for performance, but highlight the difficulty firms face in measuring performance. Using contracts signed in Major League Baseball’s free agent market, I find that over the 2010-2014 period, teams utilized variable pay schemes with players that were more productive or signaled greater risk, either in their contract terms or via overspecialization. However, not all forms of risk signaling were correlated with greater use of performance incentives, including age and proxies for injury history. These findings have significant implications for labor practices more broadly, as the high-information environment of Major League Baseball can shed light on how principals behave when performance measurement costs are effectively eliminated.

本研究以資料包絡分析法衡量職業球員的績效表現，並以麥氏生產力衡量球員兩年度期間績效變動效率，探討球員在簽訂激勵條約合約前後與績效表現之關聯性，以分析激勵條件合約是否具有激勵效果，提升球員績效，進而討論球員達成激勵條件與否，是否對未來合約條件造成影響。 本研究以2004年到2013年新簽訂合約之美國大聯盟球員為研究對象。實證結果顯示簽約前一年度績效僅簽有激勵條款之非先發投手與無激勵條款之非先發投手間有顯著之差異，簽約後績效有激勵條款野手效率顯著優於無激勵條款之野手效率，而簽有激勵條款之選手簽約前後年度生產力皆有顯著之進步，然而進步幅度並無顯著優於無激勵條款之選手。本研究認為激勵條款為球團與球員談判簽約條件之工具，球團針對不同貢獻之球員，設計不同之合約，使球團可以兼顧激發選手之表現及轉移球員未達預期績效之風險。 / To investigate the relation between the incentive clauses and players’ performances, the research not only uses the method of Data envelopment analysis to evaluate performances in the contract year but measures the efficiency of improvement between two years with Malmquist Index. Further, to find out whether the incentive clauses indeed have stimulative effect. Otherwise, attempting to explore whether player fulfills the incentive conditions or not would affect his contract condition in the future.

This case study evaluated Major League Baseball's (MLB) media product portfolio to identify how broadcast revenues have evolved over the past decade. This research looked back across baseball's long, dysfunctional history with broadcasters in order to recognize the significance of its ambitious use of online content. While MLB had failed to fully utilize the potential of broadcasting, the league's aggressive online strategy through its Advanced Media (MLBAM) division made it the industry leader in broadcasting live streaming sports video. MLBAM expanded its online streaming video to mobile phones and iPad, further expanding the distribution of its content. This research compared MLBAM revenue to traditional broadcast revenue while analyzing the online division's role in promoting the MLB brand. This case study concluded that while MLBAM had made a number of groundbreaking developments, the league could still improve its use of embedded, shared video clips, archived footage and international marketing in order to further extend the brand equity of the MLB, its thirty individual brands and its media product portfolio.

Background: Medial ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery (UCLR) is a common surgical procedure performed on elite level baseball players. Physical signs and symptoms of ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injuries requiring UCLR along with treatment have been clearly defined, however, an exact etiology of UCL injuries and methods of preventing UCLR surgery remain unclear. Objective: Systematically review and qualitatively provide an in-depth summary of recent literature about the relationships between changes in advanced pitching metrics for potential warning signs of UCL injury prior to requiring UCLR. Methods: We searched two electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus) from inception to October 2021 using a keyword search. Data extracted included author and year of publication, study design, sample size, study location, and primary outcome variables. Articles that met inclusion criteria were then evaluated using a modified Downs and Black criteria. Results: The key word search returned 51 articles of which a total of seven articles were included in the review. For the papers that met the inclusion criteria, four noted changes to velocity as potential an indicator for UCLR surgery, two identified lateralization of arm angles as an indicator of UCLR surgery, and one reported change to spin rates of specific pitches as an indicator for UCLR surgery. Conclusions: The results of this review show that changes in certain advanced pitching metrics such as spin rate, velocity, and lateralization of arm angles could be potential indicators of UCL damage. Further evaluation is needed to continue to improve our understanding of how these trends could be used as predictors of UCLR.