Of a sample of between 600 and 1,000 baseball players who are negotiated annually to sign in the Major Leagues, less than 5% are Mexican. This is why our country represents the fourth most important market by volume of baseball players exported to the MLB, behind the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba. To make national talent more attractive to Major League scouts, the academies seek to adopt from Mexico the discipline and type of work that is done in the United States, with the introduction of coaches with experience in said organizations.
According to data shared by the specialist Félix Luzón Melo, author of the book ‘How to play baseball off the field’, in 2020, the Dominican Republic signed 303 baseball players for an amount of 81.4 million dollars, Venezuela signed 253 for 52.7 million, Cuba to 20 to 8.5 million, Panama to 14 to 2.5 million and Mexico to 10 to 1.4 million. In total, Mexico contributed 1.58% of the firms that year.
According to industry specialists such as Luzón Melo; Miguel Pintor, international scout for the Houston Astros, and Jorge del Valle, sports manager at Diablos Rojos del México, the biggest difference with the player-producing countries lies in a cultural factor, in which in nations like the Dominican Republic, baseball is a economic resource to excel; In addition, it is necessary to close gaps in the physical aspect.
“In Mexico there is a bit of misinformation on the part of families. (…) They do not know that they can have an economic benefit, there is no such culture of training, of eating and resting well, of preparing technically and basically that makes the difference with Caribbean baseball players”, explained Pintor.
According to data from Puro Beisbol, in Mexico there are about 10 player development academies among affiliates of the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) (Leones, Diablos Rojos, Toros, Acereros, Pericos and the Academy of El Carmen of the LMB) and some more independently such as Robert García’s Showtime Top Velocity Academy and Francisco Rivera’s Southern Prospects, that with their own resources have become popular in the firm of baseball players in Mexico.
However, even with this type of effort and with an infrastructure that is above other Caribbean countries, the volume and money that the talent firms are moving are not significant for the Big leagues.
“It is undeniable that Mexico, with its academies, supplies a lot of its own baseball and that is why it is so successful at the level of international series and amateur championships. Mexico, on the one hand, is not the great supplier of professional talent to the Major Leagues, but it is a great supplier of talent to its own league and the Mexican national teams,” Luzón Melo pointed out.
The improvement in the dissemination of the events that are created, of the academies and the content in social media has contributed to more young people being interested, Pintor assured, but not only that, but the creation of independent academies, the introduction of foreign coaches and a change in the philosophy of the organizations are intended to place more young people in the Major Leagues .
“When they take a player, what they want is someone who can advance in the branches faster and who knows that the investment they are making in him will be recovered in the shortest possible time. Most of the boys who sign in our academy already have a discipline and know perfectly the type of work to which they are going to adapt, in addition, the vast majority are already practicing with at least basic English, “said Jorge del Valle .
The academia Alfredo Harp Helúfrom Red Devils of Mexico and Oaxacan Warriorsimplemented a program about five years ago in which part of the coaches are North Americans “so that they begin to adapt the language and begin to identify the ways of working in the United States,” explained del Valle.
These coaches, such as the American Ty Gainey (hitting coach), the Dominican Rafael Roque (pitching coach) and others like Mario Valenzuela (outfield) have worked in organizations in the United States, “they know what the process is that you have to have, They were idols in the organization and they have the knowledge of what they are looking for in the United States.”
“We try to put people who speak the same language, not only linguistically, but also in terms of training and what they are going to look for in them when they arrive at a firm in the United States.”
The organization currently has more than 65 players in the United States. “Usually two or three guys come back to us every year, but seven to 10 are signed. Almost always the volume of those who leave to those who return is much higher.”
What gaps does Mexico still need to close to position itself as a better exporter of talent?
“The main one is the physical issue. Many of the Dominican, Venezuelan and Cuban players who sign usually have physical or that athletic race a little stronger than the Mexican. In addition to many times hunger, there is a cultural issue in these other countries in which if you do not play baseball or do not stand out as an athlete it is very difficult for you to do so if you did not study, while in this country not everyone lives from baseball (. ..) I think it is a mental issue in which the players often find a level of internal competition and excel, but they are not aware of what is at the international level”, said the sports manager of the Red Devils.
Del Valle adds that in Mexico they start working later with a view to detecting talent and professionalism, because while in the countries with the highest production they are recruited from the age of six or seven, in Mexico they start at 13 or 14. because before thinking about baseball, primary and secondary education are privileged.
What lessons have you learned from observing the training process in other countries?
“Start at a younger age. Many times we bring them at 13, 14 years old, but it turns out that the basic learning level, which has been the technique of the race, something fundamental for a hitter, the most important years to work on that are between eight and 12 , then when we bring them it is more difficult for us to work on it in the best way, ”replied the director of Diablos.
“I have even come to think that only a program at the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) or school level can help us because, obviously, the academies are not to work from these ages, but I do believe that there are many things that we can improve. at the school sports level that we do not do today that could come with the detection of talents at an early age. (…) When they are brought in at the age of 13, it seems that you are taking a child, but it turns out that against the competition in other countries, it is someone already great who is starting late”.
During the administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador The Program for the Promotion and Development of Baseball in Mexico was implemented (ProBeis), to which resources of 350 million pesos were allocated in 2019 and 280 million in 2020 to promote the practice of this sport in basic education, however, in May 2021 the budget allocated to ProBeis passed from the federal government to subsystem of the Ministry of Public Education, under the name of Technological Baccalaureate of Education and Sports Promotion.
Currently, LMB clubs are not allowed to receive bonuses for signing players trained in their institutions to the Major Leagues, unless they have debuted. In that case they receive an extra 25% of what the player will receive. The LMB and MLB are in negotiations for a new contract.
Distribution of international firms in the Major Leagues in 2020
- Dominican Republic: 303 baseball players (81.4 million dollars)
- Venezuela: 253 baseball players (52.7 million dollars)
- Cuba: 20 baseball players (8.5 million dollars)
- Panama: 14 baseball players (2.5 million dollars)
- Mexico: 10 baseball players (1.4 million dollars)
- Colombia: 10 baseball players (1 million dollars)
