The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

FORTY aspiring baseball players had an opportunity to showcase their skills here at home before a group of Major League Baseball scouts.

The Bahamas Baseball Federation hosted its first MLB Club Scouts Showcase Games at the Junior Baseball League of Nassau Fields last weekend.

Two teams comprising 20 players each, emerged out of the BBF’s series of trials earlier this month hosted in New Providence and in Grand Bahama and featuring over 100 participants.

Visiting franchises represented at the event included the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The MLB Scouting Bureau was also present at the event.

The bureau is aimed at providing comprehensive information on prospects to help clubs make more informed selections in the draft. It provides a consensus scouting service for all MLB clubs. Position players are graded on hitting ability, power, running speed, arm strength and fielding.

Prospective athletes at the showcase  were evaluated on running, fielding and hitting drills followed by a pair of inters quad scrimmages.

The Selection Committee included Shane Albury (Committee Lead), Joe Moss, Greg Burrows Jr (Player Selection, Coach), Dominic Elliot  (Player Selection, Coach), Mario Ford  (Player Selection/Coach), Patrick Knowles  (Cincinnati REDS, Player Selection/Coach), Andy Percentie (Coach),  Warren Lavarity - Coach and Geron Sands – Coach.

It was the first time a local showcase featured several different scouts and was conducted outside of the Academies, where players were selected based on tryouts.

The partnership between the BBF and Major League Baseball has produced several events thus far in its early stages.

The MLB conducted a summer instructional programme featuring prospective 10th, 11th and 12th graders.

The first programme in the series was a coaching clinic last January in New Providence, featuring MLB Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar.