Wilder Investigation Tealeaves
Sunday's Tribune had a story (under an unusual joint Gonzalez-Rogers byline) on the Wilder firing: Wilder Story. There's a fair bit of personal stuff on who Wilder was and how hard this is for Williams to take, but there is some hard reporting as well:
Williams and other Sox staffers would not elaborate on details of the investigation because it is ongoing. Williams wouldn't say if financial improprieties were involved, but a source with knowledge of the probe said there were questions regarding the manner in which signing bonuses were distributed to Latin American prospects. Investigators were seeking to determine if Wilder and dismissed scouts Victor Mateo and Domingo Toribio were skimming from those bonus payments.
An MLB investigator confirmed to the Tribune on Saturday that the probe involved skimming and that it currently is limited to the White Sox.
. . . .
Wilder has been keeping a low profile since rumors of a probe of the Sox's Latin American operations first surfaced. In the statement announcing his dismissal, the Sox said they conducted their own probe before asking Major League Baseball's Department of Investigations to get involved.
The findings, the statement said, have been turned over to federal authorities to see if any federal laws were violated.
When the news first broke, Cheat speculated that the causes were likely to be money, drugs or falsifying immigration documents. Gonzalez' initial reporting suggested that it was money and now we have a second story confirming the initial speculation.
If this report is accurate, it may be the best case the Sox could hope for out of this shitty situation. If the Sox organization had been involved systematically in distributing steroids to prospects (even if done without the knowledge of Williams or Reinsdorf), you have to think that MLB would come down hard and impose penalties on the team. Similarly, if there were systematic violations of the immigration laws, the Feds would likely want to make the team serve as an example that such hijinks are no longer considered amusing. However, if what we have here is essentially an embezzlement scam by Wilder and two of his subordinates, that looks like something where the team has been, at least in part, the victim and may not need institutional punishment.
The reports of how this broke are consistent with an embezzlement scheme. The Sox' spin has been that this is a problem that they turned up internally and then blew the whistle on themselves. That's usually a pretty smart way to avoid heavy discipline and its the kind of thing I'd expect a clever and experienced lawyer like Reinsdorf to do, especially given his close personal relationship with Selig.
The timeline seems to have been: 1. Sox develop suspicions and investigate internally; 2. Sox determine they have a serious problem and ask MLB's Department of Investigations to become involved; 3. The Federales are invited to join the party to determine whether any US laws have been violated. I'm curious to know whose idea it was to get the Feds involved. Did Reinsdorf and the Sox always see that as a potential end-game or was it something that came as an unpleasant "suggestion" from the MLB guys?
Now, even if I'm right and the team can avoid organizational discipline, this still sucks pretty hard. At a bare minimum, it looks like the Sox' Dominican operation has been decapitated. Also, if Wilder really is looking at criminal charges and the Feds start to work him over, there are going to be some very pointed questions about what he knows regarding any skeletons in the Sox closet (and, I guess theoretically, the Brewers or Cubs as well.) You never know what a guy looking at jail time will suddenly remember in order to cut a deal. Of course, that's the blindest of speculation and I'm not really worried about it. What's worse is that guys wearing Sox shirts stole money from a bunch of kids. You have to think that will be widely discussed throughout the Caribbean and that it could take a long time before our replacement scouts build up any trust in the area.
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I'm more concerned about the Sox reputation
and how it will affect future recruitment rather than what Wilder has to say to the Feds.
"I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right? "
by onlysoxfaninboston on May 18, 2008 11:41 AM CDT reply actions
seems a rather sensible and logical idea
to call the relevant policing authority when your employees are engaging in a conspiracy to defraud you and your employees of money, don’t you think?
of course
and based on the limited info available, i’m impressed with the sox brass’ response. but do you think that it will be difficult for the sox to recruit latin american players in the short-term based on the actions of these recruiters?
otherwise, i don’t think wilder has anything unsavory to share about the sox with the feds, especially in relation to steroids. more importantly is that the sox find a replacement for wilder and move on.
"I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right? "
by onlysoxfaninboston on May 18, 2008 1:33 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm confused
What is Wilder’s role in this? What are the roles of the two scouts? Are all three of them equally quilty or is Wilder guilty by being the Man in charge while the other two were underlings and should have been supervised more closely?
Ozzie has been involved in South of the Border recruiting, scouting, using his influence to sign some of the recruits and many other activities with several teams and has known the hazards of doing busines below the border. I would think that KW would rely on Ozzie’s knowledge to help the Sox avoid dealing with nefarious individuals.
Obviously there is a lot more to be learned about this and I pray the Sox are not harmed long-term by this skimming of bonuses and whatever else develops.
you'd have to in order to start some kind of prosecution, oui?
dude, that was totally not swish you saw on rush street last night. swish was at home playing xbox.
thanks for the summary
it seems like this is going to be a nearly best case scenario, considering that the bottom line is that kids were stolen from.
dude, that was totally not swish you saw on rush street last night. swish was at home playing xbox.
You are in my head, Cheat
That was the exact quote. However, it’s fairly easy to justify on fair/foul, HR, catch/no catch vs. ball/strike.
Tradition, scmadition. Get it right. One of the reasons the NBA and NFL (hell, even the NHL) has better called games than does MLB.
Of course, the umpire’s union is much stronger than any other sport’s arbiter entity. (Gotta get the politics in.)
I took the "under".
I'm suggesting that at least they have replay
for buzzer-beaters (and, yeah, the Magic were jobbed in a playoff game a week or two ago because the Detroit timekeeper strangely didn’t begin the clock). That’s all I’m saying. The don’t rely 100% on “the lyin’ eyes”.
Traveling/palming/charging are very subjective. The refs also are rather up close and personal for every play – look at the size of the court, the intense frenetic activity away from the ball, and they’ve got a lot to watch. Umps have a foul line, a base, a caught/trapped. How tough is that, comparitavely?
How’s this, as an attempt as a SABERmetrician – more accurate calls/possible events per second in the NBA vs. MLB.
I took the "under".
because it's america, wu
You see, when my father umpired this game fifty years ago, he cared about only one thing: the integrity of the game. Sure, we may take a little longer to make a call, and we may not always get it right, but I guess we just care a little more. And that’s why baseball still umpires fucking up calls. Yes, baseball is a simpler game, for a simpler America.
joe morgan
telling us the difference between a reporter and a journalist. apparently it has something to do with staying consistent.
seems the foul poll is a couple feet away from the foul line
The greatest trick the White Sox ever pulled was convincing their fan base that "Ozzieball" ever existed.
dammit, pole not poll
The greatest trick the White Sox ever pulled was convincing their fan base that "Ozzieball" ever existed.
is that ok with the rules?
The greatest trick the White Sox ever pulled was convincing their fan base that "Ozzieball" ever existed.
which isn't exactly relevant for making the right call
what i’d like to know is why they painted that foot long portion black – it’s yellow above and below.
I bet it was taped for some reason
and never repainted yellow. Saving maintenance $ – hell, they’re outta there soon anyway. What are the odds of someone hitting it there?
Oh.
I took the "under".
Was the score 34-10 or something?
Or was A-Rod playing every position all at once?
I took the "under".
yeah, it's time to get our guys out of san fran
“Sox are sharing the load”
http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2008/05/sharing-the-loa.html
Holy shit...
Read what “supposed” White Sox insider BureauEmployee171 from SoxTalk.com said about this Wilder situation…
http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=64771&view=findpost&p=1643177
BureauEmployee171 basically says that Wilder acted as these Latin players “agent”, signed them to big contracts no matter their skill level, kept some of the White Sox contractual money and put it in offshore accounts, gave the Latin players steroids and HGH, and set them up with forged birth certificates.
BureauEmployee171 also says that 16 year old Latin SS Juan Silverio is actually 20.5 years old and not the stud player that Wilder touted him as. BureauEmployee171 says that this news will be coming out officially soon.

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