NewsWhore
01-17-2007, 12:50 PM
In 2006, 508 Dominican "diamonds in the rough" were harvested by the Major League Baseball academies in the DR, as reported in Diario Libre. This is 26% more than the 403 recruited in 2005. This year, MLB teams distributed US$25 million in bonds to the new players, compared to US$17 million in 2005. The average value of the bonds was also up, going from US$42,000 in 2005 to US$50,000 in 2006. The biggest bond was given to Angel Villalona, a 16-year old third base from La Romana, who received a US$2.2 million bond from the San Francisco Giants last August. According to MLB DR representative Ronaldo Peralta, as of 31 December 2005, there were 1,556 Dominicans under contract in the Major League teams. As of 31 December 2006, there were already 3,200 Dominican players, or a 105% increase. Of the 30 MLB teams, 29 have academies in the DR, the one exception being the Milwaukee Brewers. The New York Mets and the San Diego Padres announced that they would be investing millions to build their new training centers. Peralta pointed out that the MLB invests about US$84 million to train ball players in the DR and their operations generate over 2,000 jobs.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)