MLB recently confirmed a fear that fans held for months. A few months ago, people called out the Phillies and the Reds for partnering with underage kids during international prospecting. The teams reportedly went for a pre-agreement to secure them, as MLB permits official contracts only with players above 16. However, catching a 13-year-old signee for a banned substance should force a total rethink of international prospecting.

“The Phillies have canceled the $1.3 million pre-agreement they had with their top international prospect from the 2029 class after the player tested positive for banned substances,” MLB insider Wilber Sanchez shared via X. “The pitcher, just 13 years old, tested positive for steroid use. Kids using steroids.”

Yes, a 13-year-old prospect was just caught taking steroids.

While the name of the player is not disclosed, his age, consumption of banned substance and a $1.3 million pre-agreement indicate a dangerous trend. Surely, when a kid around 13 years old gets access to such an amount, they tend to get carried away. They also get desperate to amp up their numbers in order to secure a higher amount.

Result? Steroid consumption to speed up growth and strength. The Phillies president, Dave Dombrowski, just faced the music in a hard way.

“You’re going to give a 12-year-old kid that kind of money and expect a normal human?” One fan reacted last month when the Reds signed a 12-year-old Dominican prospect for $2.8 million.

So, while the Phillies have canceled the pre-agreement with the prospect, the trend might be here to stay.

Apart from the US, the Latin and Caribbean countries like Venezuela, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic are the hotbeds for budding baseball talents. MLB clubs signed a total of 464 players during the 2024–25 international signing period. Among them, 209 are from Venezuela, and 201 are from the Dominican Republic.

These figures highlight the deep cultural roots of baseball in these countries. And guess what, racing for an MLB contract is directly related to their socio-economic factors.

Kids start taking up baseball early and try to stay within the radar of MLB teams’ scouts. Securing a good deal uplifts their financial position back home. But in doing so, they are taking banned substances to offer eye-catching numbers to the scouts. And since, as per MLB rules, they are not tested for steroids until age 16, some are pushed to their limits to stand out in an already crowded talent pool.

With a few more names still there with the Phillies and other teams, the issue might be here to stay.

The Phillies are sitting on a ticking time bomb

Apart from what Sanchez has reported, the Phillies’ young outfielder Johan Rojas also served an 80-game suspension in 2026 for testing positive for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid. Last year, he had a moderate outing in MLB, slashing a .224 average and .569 OPS across 71 games. Critics will surely question the Phillies’ player development approach after these two simultaneous banned substance cases.

But the story doesn’t end here.

As per Sanchez, the Phillies signed a pre-agreement with an 11-year-old Venezuelan shortstop, David Basabe, for $1.8 million last month. He will be in the class of 2031 when he is 16. Then the Yankees also signed a 13-year-old Venezuelan prospect, Albert Mejias, for an outrageous $7 million pre-agreement. So, all these serve to an unhealthy trend of pushing the Latin and Caribbean kids to the limits to try their luck with MLB.

With the Phillies already losing one MLB prospect and an international talent at once, they still have a few in their stable. And apart from them, the Yankees and Reds are all in the list to have pre-agreements with a few minors.

So, a ticking time bomb it is, and before it explodes, MLB should come up with stricter regulations regarding pre-agreements.