Playing Catch with Destiny

About a year and a half ago I shared this blog with the world.  Since then I've spent that time working with Michael Williamsen on creating Playing Catch with Destiny which is 100% true story about my life and mission to help improve the lives of children with developmental disabilities.

Hope the book helps you better understand the behind the scenes tactics of MLB and the reach of their control in society.

www.playingcatchwithdestiny.com

Please share your thoughts about the book at info@playingcatchwithdestiny.com

Thank you to all the industry professionals who made this book A GAME CHANGER.

Many Blessings,

Matt

Matt Bruback
Creator of the Miracle Belt & Sensory Belt
Former Professional Baseball Player

Device Impacts lives of children with sensory issues | Military Press

Device Impacts lives of children with sensory issues | Military Press

Please share the good news to help children with sensory disorders.

"The slotting system makes decisions for teams. I'd rather see teams be forced to make big money decisions on all players as opposed to just some. The industry itself has a lot of ups and downs."
Aaron Tassano, International Scout
Chicago Cubs Organization

Below is a summary of my blog which exposes the Chicago Cubs for violating collegiate and professional baseball rules, the reason behind instituting slotted bonuses, and the ultimate control Major League Baseball uses to keep players and profits in check.

This blog shares how the Chicago Cubs tampered in 1998 and offered me a contract before my season was over which violated collegiate and professional baseball rules. After my college season I signed with the Cubs and the following year other players were asking for a similar bonus which came to be known as “Matt Money”. In 2000 the slotted bonus system was instituted to limit signing bonuses players could receive from MLB teams. The institution of slotted bonuses has undoubtedly saved Major League Baseball clubs millions of dollars by severely limiting the flexibility of players to negotiate their own contracts.

On July 25th 2012 John Perrotto, who is a national writer for Baseball Prospectus.com and a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, confirmed in an online article the bonus I received from the Chicago Cubs led to MLB developing the slotted bonus system.

“The bonus led to MLB developing its current slotting system to hold down money going to draft picks.”
John Perrotto, Sports Writer
Baseball Writers Association of America

Early in my career the Chicago Cubs played me when I was hurt, provided poor medical attention numerous times when I had pneumonia, and constantly tried to get me to quit. When I was only 21 years old and playing at Daytona the minor league coordinator, Oneri Fleita, for the Cubs pulled me aside and told me I should think about my family and my future. Constant emotional and psychological abuse ensued throughout my professional baseball career.

"Abuses of any kind (verbal, emotional and physical) can definitely take their toll on one's confidence, concentration and motivation levels, not to mention self-esteem. In sports, people in power sometimes rationalize bullying behaviors by saying that they are trying to build "mental toughness" in their players. But no one ever gets good by being told they are bad or by being treated poorly.”
Jim Afremow Ph.D, Doctor of Philosophy in Sport Psychology
Sports Psychologist and Licensed Counselor at Arizona State Univ.

In the early years of my career none of the mistreatment made any sense so I just kept my head down and did the best I could. Little did I know I was being punished by MLB for the Cubs signing me for more money than was “suggested” by MLB and the creation of the slotted bonus system was MLB’s response. The slotted bonus system limits a players ability negotiate their contract and signing bonus. Foreign players are not subject to the draft which makes this system blatantly unfair for American ball players.

"I am with you 100%, it is entirely un-American to limit a person's ability to maximize their earning potential."
Mark Linden, Owner
Baseball Positive

“Personally I’d prefer MLB concentrate more on promoting the growth of the game around the world. Let teams worry about who they want to sign and how much to pay them. I am not a fan of the slotted system. I don't have a very high regard for MLB's operations.”
Bob Oettinger, President
International Baseball Association, Inc.

“The thing that bothered me most about the collective bargained new draft system is that the amateur players were not represented at the table. As you know, the MLBPA do not represent players unless they are on the 40 man roster, and in this case, they had no fiduciary duty to them and treated them that way. So they were really sold out, fair or unfair.”
Richard Bier, Owner
High Profile Sports, LLC

Would imagine most people will have many questions like why was I played when I was hurt? Why was I given poor medical attention? Why did the Chicago Cubs constantly try to get me to quit? Great questions and they all have the same answer… to create a story to protect their newly instituted slotted bonus system which saves MLB clubs millions of dollars each year. If I would have quit early in my career MLB would have most likely publicized how the slotted system was justified and needed to prevent future high bonuses to low round draft picks.

“I could write several books about the negative experiences told to me by pro ball players. Signed with the Phillies in 1959 and played for 16 years. It didn't take long for me to realize that MLB was about one thing -- money. All of the decisions were made to increase their profit margins. It hasn't changed, of course, but now teams have to be sneakier and cleverer about it all.

MLB is a huge corporation with multiple wealthy CEOs that do what is necessary to maintain complete control over their product and to make it more profitable.“
Dave Baldwin,
Former Professional Baseball Player


Since this blog came out the following Chicago Cubs staff members who were mentioned or implicated have been fired!

Oneri Fleta – Fired on Aug 15th 2012
Title: Vice President of Player Personnel
http://tinyurl.com/fleita

Chuck Wasserstrom - Fired on Aug 15th 2012
Title: Manager of Baseball Information/Statistician
http://tinyurl.com/wasserstrom
 
Joe Housey– Fired on Aug 22nd 2012
Title: Scout (My Scout)
http://tinyurl.com/joehousey

Richie Zisk – Fired on Aug 22nd 2012
Title: Scout (2000 Daytona Cubs Manager)
http://tinyurl.com/richiezisk


To learn more about this story please read the rest of my blog.
   

“The slotted draft system is extremely unfair to players. Baseball is the only major sport to never adopt a salary cap, so it is a free market for players. Yet they are forcing the incoming American talent to sign for a certain amount. The system adopted this year has only made it that much more unfair for the players. In previous drafts if a player had a higher asking price he would fall usually to a team who was willing to meet the demand. Now with a salary cap in place for the top ten picks of each team and penalties for exceeding the cap, players leverage is very low. You also have the issue of teams now drafting less talented players early who will sign for below market value to then attempt to shift the remaining money towards someone else's bonus. Anyone who is signing below the slot is only validating the owners and the leagues strategy to limit what players entering the league can make. Yet if any of the players were from other countries they would be able to sign with the highest bidder. So an extremely unfair system.”

Harold Bicknell, President/CEO

Bicknell Management Group

 

”Don't think the slotted bonus system is fair to rookie players. It certainly makes agents/attorneys for those players less important, which I think was the point.”
Brian Adkins, Owner
AFA Sports

“Bad mechanics are part of the injury problem but the injury itself is an overuse injury. We MUST spread the word to help get rid of Tommy John Surgery.”

Tommy John, Owner

Tommy John Pitching Academy

 

 

"Abuses of any kind (verbal, emotional and physical) can definitely take their toll on one's confidence, concentration and motivation levels, not to mention self-esteem. In sports, people in power sometimes rationalize bullying behaviors by saying that they are trying to build "mental toughness" in their players. But no one ever gets good by being told they are bad or by being treated poorly.”
Jim Afremow Ph.D, Doctor of Philosophy in Sport Psychology
Sports Psychologist and Licensed Counselor at Arizona State University