old_school posted:9and7dad posted:old_school posted:TPM posted:JMO, but I believe that there are more MLB DR players because they come here at 18 and receive ML instruction from that point going forward. US HS players tend to go to college first. Realistically, unless a HS player got a significant bonus, the pay at the entry level is unacceptable for most everyone. It takes 4-5 years to develop a ML player, most players who are drafted out of college are not MLB ready while the the Dominican player has already been protected is approaching free agency.
I don't agree with either of the bolded points. The best of the US develop no different then the best of the Dominicans, I don't buy for a minute the ML coaching and academies do a better job teaching then the our colleges. They operate under different rules, time restrains from training limitations and mandatory classroom time. if you want to tell me the Latin academy model the MLB teams have down there is superior due to the fact it is solely a baseball factory fair enough but not because of the quality of coaching. IMO
The Dominican's who are 20ish protected and approaching FA are no different then Trout, Harper etc and none of those are the norm.
The biggest difference in IMO is the lack of any other viable option for a better life...our kids here are taught to go to school, be well rounded, play other sports, prepare for life after baseball. on the islands they are trained for this is the only chance you have to live a better life and you your whole world depends on it...I see an obvious difference there.
Old School - I understand your point, but I might put a slightly different spin on it. I applaud your defense of the quality of college coaching, I have a pitcher in college right now so I hope you are correct. I don't think its a matter of quality so much as it is a matter of motivation. Pro coaches at low level professional ball are about development. College coaches are about winning right now and keeping their jobs. The motivation to overuse a pitcher in a short college season is pretty real, while a minor league coach is under no such constraint. I wouldn't (or perhaps more accurately couldn't) argue that quality of teaching is different, I just think that the coaches on each side have different motivations and goals.
This is fair and legit concern. Being that neither of my sons are pitchers anymore that entire thought was lost on me....which based on the tread is kind of weak in its own right...LOL sorry brain lock on my part.
I do think the coaching in general terms is very good from broad based perspective. In that I include travel programs that help the boys. I know my u17 son is mature long beyond his actual age just from what, where and who he has been with playing the game.
With all due respect, the college game and the pro game are entirely different from one another. There are very few college coaches who can prepare any player for the next level to be able to make an MLB roster right after college. There are exceptions to that rule, and those exceptions are usually the higher draftees. I don't beleive that when it comes to pitchers that those from the DR have less issues than others. Though players are entering younger and younger, it still takes time to develop, years actually. But they have and did spend time in the system and they are moved up because the instruction still continues and is different on the ML level. You don't think that Trout works with Pujols? That right there is a superior education in itself!
BTW, most hitters do go off to college because they do not want to do their at bats in a lower level team (low A). And I never stated that the Dominicans were more talented than US players.
My point was that DR players enter the US at 18 to play ball, by 22,23 they have been in the system for 4-5 years. I did ask what percentage of those players do or do not make a ML team, but by 22-23 the team has put in a significant amount of time and money and that means if they are able the team is willing to place them on a ML roster, which could be why there are 30% on a MLB roster. Most US players will not hang in there that long unless they have made a 40 or 25 man roster (more mone at some point in their career.