39 ways to balk

[GarthB]

First of all, many of our players are overlooked by your scouts because they are NOT PITCHERS. Why offer a big contract to an Australian kid to travel halfway around the world and play in a position that you can get an American, Mexican of Venezualan kid to play almost as well - maybe even at half the price? And if our positional players just aren't getting those big sign-up offers, how will the owners ever know what they're capable of achieving through contact with the pressure-cooker US farm system?


Exactly.

Most foreign players that come from farther away than the Dominican Republic are premium standouts. Why go to Australia or Japan for that matter for a mediocre position player or utility man or pine rider. Those are available locally en masse and no need to keep a recruiter on the road for that. But that doesn't mean that they don't exist in other countries.

What will eventually happen, I predict, in baseball is what is happening in basketball. Aussie prospects (and others from around the globe) who have a serious chance at the pros, will attend college here in the state so that they can not only get exposure, but frequent exposure.

[Warren Willson]

Originally posted by GarthB

What will eventually happen, I predict, in baseball is what is happening in basketball. Aussie prospects (and others from around the globe) who have a serious chance at the pros, will attend college here in the state so that they can not only get exposure, but frequent exposure.

It's already happening, GB. As at March 2003 we had 59 Australian baseballers playing in the US Collegiate system. We had another 64 playing non-professionally and for independent leagues.

Cheers

[David B]

Originally posted by GarthB
First of all, many of our players are overlooked by your scouts because they are NOT PITCHERS. Why offer a big contract to an Australian kid to travel halfway around the world and play in a position that you can get an American, Mexican of Venezualan kid to play almost as well - maybe even at half the price? And if our positional players just aren't getting those big sign-up offers, how will the owners ever know what they're capable of achieving through contact with the pressure-cooker US farm system?

I think it already it happening. There was a feature back during the Olympics on baseball in Australia and there are more and more that will be coming in the years to come.

I think by having the Olympics in Australia it allowed many many of the scouts etc., to have a reason to go to Australia and I think they realized its quite a hot bed of baseball.

Of course that's just my opinion based on what I remember from several years ago.

I think the comparison to basketball is very good. Give it a few years and we will all see.

The countries around the world have discovered, send your athletes to the US. There they can go to school free, train with the best coaches, and then return home for the Olympics and beat the US.

Thanks
David