DNA testing in baseball

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John
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DNA testing in baseball

#1 Post by John »

Let me ask you a few questions. As the (virtual) GM of a (virtual) major league baseball club, would you like a guarantee that the foreign "teenager" you're about to hand a $3M bonus to is actually 16 and not 20? Would you care to know if a player you're considering drafting is particularly susceptible to injury? Would it matter if uncovering this information constituted a possible invasion of that player's privacy?

I'm guessing more than a few of you answered, "Yes, yes, no." Don't feel bad; you're not alone. A number of real world GMs are interested in gaining this kind of inside information as well, and they're turning to a truly/i] inside source to obtain it: DNA testing.

Now let's be clear: At this time, the only DNA testing going on is happening with Latin American prospects. As you know, it can often be difficult to get accurate ages on these players. There's so much money at stake and therefore so much incentive to lie. Where there's doubt, a number of MLB teams are inviting these players to undergo a DNA test to prove his parents are who he says they are. This helps uncover cases where fake birth certificates are used. The tests are voluntary, although I'm sure it's not hard to deduce that those refusing a test is going to be facing an uphill road.

Maybe voluntary testing of Latin American prospects doesn't seem like a big deal, and maybe it isn't. The prospect is there, however, for using these tests in other ways. What if teams started asking free agents to submit DNA tests to determine if they're particularly at risk for cancer, for instance? Or to determine if their muscle connectivity potential is greater than another player?

Is this kind of testing crossing the line, or is it simply a new frontier of science? With the astronomical salaries being paid to athletes these days, obviously teams want as much cost certainty as they can get. DNA testing could be the next way to provide some greater measure of certainty. We accept that athletes should be tested for drugs; do we also accept DNA testing as a consequence that comes with the privileged of being a pro sports figure?
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Sandgnats (Bill)

Re: DNA testing in baseball

#2 Post by Sandgnats (Bill) »

This is a thought provoking question. Initially, I would support DNA testing because it is in persuit of truth. BUT, upon thinking about this situation a little more, I think the privacy violation of DNA tests outweighs the benefit(solely to a sports team) of correctly determining someone's true age. Once that DNA info has been provided, it can go anywhere! Even if there is a so called privacy agreement handling the DNA, money drives our society and corruption is inevitable. Therefore, the privacy of that DNA test would eventually be shared with additional parties or institutions.

So, if the DNA testing is eventually deemed necessary by the powers that be, I feel that the player should have the right to refuse testing. The player will then have to decide the ramifications of his/her actions. Knowing full well that if they (the individual player) refuse DNA testing, they may well forever ruin their chances at reaching their sports goals. That should clearly be the right of the player in my opinion.

Nice job John on introducing this topic!
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Evas
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Re: DNA testing in baseball

#3 Post by Evas »

I think as long as the only DNA test that gets run is only to determine paternity/maternity, it is OK. It is preventing fraud and testing the claims of the player. There is a rampant fraud and I think the clubs are wise to want to test this sort of thing.

But if I were a player, I might be concerned that the samples might not be destroyed properly afterward, like we saw in some of the steroid stories. Surviving samples could be used for other sorts of tests. But that is really a separate issue than whether the testing itself is OK.

So I guess I have no problem with a DNA test for paternity/maternity, but might not trust MLB enough to run it if I were a player.
Last edited by Evas on Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: DNA testing in baseball

#4 Post by klewis »

I don't particularly care for DNA testing because I think it begins to tightrope the thin line of ethics and all that.

As for the whole age thing, I think it is more of the GM's/owner's fault anyway. Sure the kid could be lying. But so what? It's not the kid's fault that you got owners and GM's showering them with cash. I don't think a couple of years is a big difference anyway. The difference in age does not change the kid's current abilities. If he lied by a couple years, does that mean his 400 foot homers become 350 foot homers? Sure it can affect one's perspective of the prospect's potential or extrapolated future success.... but I don't think knowing a person's exact age will impact the scout's assessment all that much. If scouts are relying on age as the determining factor to chart a kid's future success, then I think that scout is in some trouble.

By the way, check out the movie Gattaca. It is an excellent movie on the role of DNA and social class.
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Re: DNA testing in baseball

#5 Post by Tyler »

Featherheads wrote:By the way, check out the movie Gattaca. It is an excellent movie on the role of DNA and social class.
I'll second Gattaca as a great movie.

I don't have any problem with DNA testing solely to determine paternity in an ideal world. However, in reality, I am firmly opposed to any sort of DNA testing in MLB. Regardless of the privacy/rights concerns, MLB as an organization has already proven themselves to be completely untrustworthy in these matters.
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Re: DNA testing in baseball

#6 Post by DanD »

"But it'll be anonymous. We promise!!"
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Re: DNA testing in baseball

#7 Post by Matt »

I'm wondering if this might not be a mute question considering the government now is investigating those obtaining visa's much more closely since 9/11. In fact, the whole issue of age clearly came to a head when these new visa provisions were first implemented and many present major leaguer's had to come clean about their ages (and in some cases, identities).

Not that I think the government will manage to weed out all the frauds. Where there is a will, there is a way, and I have firsthand watched how illegals beat the Border Patrol down in Laredo, so I don't discount that there will always be a creative way to beat the system.

From a personal standpoint, I couldn't see myself submitting to a DNA test by a prospective employer under any circumstance. I could, however, see myself being party to a class action lawsuit against said employer. I'm not saying I think I have a snowballs chance in hell of winning such a lawsuit, but I would definately do my best to give said employer as much grief as possible.
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Re: DNA testing in baseball

#8 Post by Alan Ehlers »

It is an invasion of privacy in some cases and I for one would never submit to it unless you had a gun to my head.
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