What will be baseball's next big market for players?

[caulfield12]

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/brazil-...-players-030113

 

 

Would be a really cool internship/sports management project to get involved in helping the White Sox or Rays (they've expressed the most interest, so far) starting a Brazilian Baseball Academy.

 

Would have to be able to speak Portuguese or find a fluent translator, of course.

[The Ultimate Champion]

Most untapped potential is Brazil, not even close. Crazy athletes come out of that country all the time. The problem is IIRC they don't give 2 s***s about baseball over there.

[caulfield12]

Maybe if some of these prospects like Rienzo start making it to the big leagues and getting paid, that will change.

 

Like Yao Ming in the NBA, Ichiro (Asian market) in baseball, just need one to break through and many others will follow in their footsteps. We're already starting to get more and more of an influx of South Korean players.

[caulfield12]

Forgot Australia.

 

The Dodgers/DBacks will be kicking off the season there in 2014.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major...stralia#Players

 

Dave Nilsson (Brewers/catcher) is the only one ever to make an All-Star team.

Grant Balfour.

 

It's a longer list than I would have thought.

 

Liam Hendricks, Luke Hughes, Peter Moylan, Travis Blackley, Rich Thompson, Josh Spence.

 

Graeme Lloyd was a well-known relief pitcher, back in the day, Craig Shipley, who played mostly with the Padres at SS.

 

 

[Ross]

Pretty good question, never really thought about it. I know that many of the players weren't born and raised there, but some of those Eurpoean nations (Italy, the Netherlands, Spain) put up impressive showins at the World Baseball Classic.

[whitesox14]

If you include the Caribbean with the Netherlands (Netherlands Antilles), I think that's a somewhat untapped market that's shown stars in the past (Andruw Jones, Jurickson Profar).

 

As for 10~20 years down the road I think you have to be looking at China. Per wikipedia they went into an agreement with Japanese baseball in 2007 for training, and I think statistically there have to be some excellent athletes there.

[Ross]

If you include the Caribbean with the Netherlands (Netherlands Antilles), I think that's a somewhat untapped market that's shown stars in the past (Andruw Jones, Jurickson Profar).

 

As for 10~20 years down the road I think you have to be looking at China. Per wikipedia they went into an agreement with Japanese baseball in 2007 for training, and I think statistically there have to be some excellent athletes there.

 

I agree, China could be scary.

 

Also, welcome to SoxTalk!

[whitesox14]

Also, welcome to SoxTalk!

 

 

Thanks! glad to be here

[The 815]

Here's a cool article from milb.com about one of the White Sox scouts taking baseball supplies to Kenya. Doubt it could ever be a baseball haven but it could be a couple peoples lottery tickets out of poverty in 10-15 years.

 

 

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=2...mc&sid=milb

 

 

 

It may be our National Pastime, but baseball has become a global sport. Last season, Major League Baseball featured players from five continents and 20 countries, but this global gathering still has plenty of room to expand. Just ask Chicago White Sox scout John Tumminia.

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Tumminia, a resident of Newburgh, N.Y., has spent decades watching the game's top talent on amateur and professional ballfields located all over the United States. He currently scouts at both the Minor and Major League levels, having recently returned from a jaunt through the Class A Advanced Carolina League. But though he can converse at length about the premier prospects to be found at locales such as Winston-Salem or Myrtle Beach, these days his focus is on a country that has never produced a professional baseball player and isn't likely to any time soon: Kenya.

 

And that's the point. Motivated by a desire to give back to the game that has provided them their livelihoods, Tumminia and a loose cohort of fellow scouts, executives, coaches and former and current professional players are teaming up to teach baseball and donate equipment to youth in underserved areas who otherwise wouldn't get the opportunity. They've previously traveled to the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic and South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and this October a seven-person contingent is planning to bring their operation to Kenya. The trip, organized in conjunction with the charitable Bread and Water Foundation, will bring equipment (largely donated by Major League organizations) and baseball and softball instruction to approximately 500 children.

 

"This started out because we wanted to do something a little different than just charging to give [baseball] lessons, we wanted to give freely," said Tumminia, a member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame. "And we came to the conclusion that baseball is all we really know how to do, so we decided to reach out. There are a very large number of kids, all throughout the world, who have never played baseball or softball.

 

So why not give them that opportunity? "You have to start somewhere" is Tummina's take on the matter, and he believes that by teaching baseball to Kenyan youth, his group could help plant the seeds for the eventual emergence of professional level talent.

 

But to accomplish their goals, Tumminia and his collaborators, who include his good friend and "field coordinator" Sean Kober as well as former Major League pitcher (and current Hudson Valley Renegades executive) Rob Bell, fellow scout Daraka Shaheed, softball instructor Ariel Shoen and current Salem Red Sox pitcher Michael McCarthy, need help.

 

Remarking that "we have a vision beyond our resources," Tumminia is doing all he can to raise money to fund the trip (the White Sox contributed substantially to previous outings but have not yet committed to the Kenya initiative). The amount currently needed -- approximately $12,000 -- seems like chump change within an industry known for luxury box suites and exorbitant player contracts, but nonetheless, it's been slow going thus far.

 

"I've written to so many foundations and groups, and while I didn't expect big money, I did expect a better response for such a good thing," said Tumminia, the frustration evident in his voice. "But I'm raising awareness in any way I can, because then the sponsorships start to emerge."

 

Frozen Ropes baseball training centers and the Ethan Allen furniture company have recently made contributions, but for the trip to become reality, more need to follow. The fundraising deadline is Aug. 4, as by that point all of the donated baseball equipment needs to be shipped to Kenya. (One recent bit of good news is that the Kenyan embassy, after some prodding by the Bread and Water Foundation, has agreed to waive the burdensome taxes that are usually levied upon items being imported into the country). Tumminia is asking anyone interested in donating to the cause to email him ([email protected]), confident that somehow, someway, this trip to Kenya will happen.

 

"We're talking about 500 kids here! Kids who've never played baseball, who are sending notes and messages through the community at large wondering when we're going to get there," said Tumminia. "Every trip we bring hot dogs and peanuts, and we teach 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame.' It sounds kind of corny, but they love it. Seeing them brings back memories from when we were kids, that sense of excitement you'd feel just by picking up a glove. And in that sense, it's a wonderful thing to see, bringing the joy of baseball to remote places in the world."

 

Thinking long-term, Tumminia envisions partnering with MLB teams, their affiliates and like-minded philanthropic organizations to start academies and leagues worldwide. He is working to facilitate construction of a new baseball field on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and wants to return to Monta Plata as well.

 

"I've been told that the kids there are still running around with their baseball gloves and White Sox hats," he said. "We need to go back and see these boys and girls, building on what we've already accomplished."

 

But no matter how big the goals, the operation itself remains simple.

 

"We don't have a name for ourselves, we're a group of scouts, former players and coaches who just want to go out and get it done," said Tumminia. "And once we do, we'll move on to other parts of the world, fulfilling our mission's objective: to teach, have fun and exchange cultures while bringing the greatest sport in the world to these boys and girls."

 

 

[caulfield12]

I'm going to e-mail that guy, I'll be in Africa at the same time, and I have two co-workers in Kenya who might also be able to help with their contacts in Nairobi.

 

Actually, about five years ago, I applied to be part of the "MLB Ambassadors Program" but it's almost impossible to be accepted unless you're a former scout/player with a major league team (my experience was merely playing, coaching and working with a minor league team for 2 seasons, and existing contacts with some of those players/coaches, as well as a Master's in Sports Admin).

 

There's a lot of potential in India because of all the cricket players and the similar hand-eye coordination skills that are involved.

 

We've talked about Brazil already in this thread.

 

Someone just mentioned Curacao.

 

Will fill in everyone with updates as I find out more.

 

FWIW, I've been to that Pine Ridge Reservation, it's home of the Lakota Sioux, and more familiar to people for Wounded Knee, where they're ATTEMPTING to build the Crazy Horse Monument and also the poorest county in the U.S. (Boone County, SD).

Rampant alcoholism, unemployment, youth delinquency and massive frustration with the government there.

 

[caulfield12]

By Bill Shaikin (latimes.com/sports)

July 6, 2013, 7:41 p.m.

Smart money

 

The divorce of Dwight Howard and the Lakers might be the biggest story in town, and NBA legend Magic Johnson is an owner of the Dodgers. So the L.A. sports fan ought to appreciate that the best moves the Dodgers made last week included trading for cap space.

 

There is no salary cap for major league players, but the new collective bargaining agreement caps what teams can spend on amateurs. After Bob Engle, the Dodgers' vice president of international scouting, determined the team needed more cap space to pursue players around the world, the Dodgers traded reliever Matt Guerrier to the Chicago Cubs for reliever Carlos Marmol.

 

Dodgers fans vented about why their team would want the erratic Marmol, but what the Dodgers really wanted was the additional $200,000 in international cap space the Cubs included in the trade. If Marmol helps the Dodgers, that's an unexpected bonus. If Marmol never pitches a game in L.A., cutting Guerrier and then turning him into $200,000 worth of minor leaguers is a big win for the Dodgers. On Saturday, the Dodgers picked up pitcher Ricky Nolasco — and another $200,000 in cap space — for three minor leaguers.

 

"We're looking for whatever edge we can find," Dodgers President Stan Kasten said.

 

The Dodgers spent more than $100 million to sign Cuban outfielder Yasiel Puig and South Korean pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, but big money is not the only smart money. Kasten cited a recent study that showed 80% of major leaguers from the Dominican Republic signed for $100,000 or less — and that was before the cap went into effect last year.

 

The Dodgers' first three international signings under this year's cap were not from the scout-saturated Dominican Republic but from Venezuela and Germany, a reflection of the fleet of scouts the Dodgers hired to cover the world beyond Santo Domingo.

 

The Dodgers also spent on players slipping deep in the draft. For instance, they threw $175,000 at Los Alamitos High pitcher Greg Harris, their 17th-round pick and the son of the ambidextrous major league pitcher of the same name.

Quality helps build a minor league system, but quantity helps too — the more players you have, the better the chance of developing quality depth. When the Dodgers say they won't be running a world-record payroll forever, these are the kinds of moves that confirm the long-range plan.

 

"I believe in the plan," Kasten said. "But we're not going to take any credit for at least a few more years."

Edited July 7, 2013 by caulfield12