The Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins shared baseball academy is now open in Jubey, Boca Chica, a 30-minute drive east from Santo Domingo. This is the first time two Major League Baseball teams have agreed to share a state-of-the-art academy.
The sports facilities total around 85,000 square feet and were built on 290 tareas (45 acres, 1 tarea=629 square meters) campus. The teams invested US$18 million in the construction and fitting of the academy.
Attending the opening was Sports Minister Danilo Díaz, Juan Francisco Puello Herrera, president of the Caribbean Baseball Federation; Orlando Díaz, president of the Dominican Summer League, Rafael Pérez, director of operations for Major League Baseball in the Dominican Republic and officials of both teams.
Dave St. Peter, president and executive director of the Twins, said the team is proud of the association with the Phillies to develop the modern training center. Andy MacPhail, president of the Phillies, also offered praise for the achievement. He spoke of the excitement of both teams to have the new baseball complex. Previously, the Phillies had leased four different academies in the Dominican Republic.
The complex will operate as two separate academies, but some operation costs will be shared. Each team owns its own separate baseball and training facility — fields, batting cages, weight rooms and medical areas, etc. — and employ their own coaching/training staffs. The teams will share kitchen, dining, auditorium and field maintenance facilities and costs. Each team will have its own dormitory.
Lee McDaniel, the Phillies’ director of minor league operations, said: “A couple of years ago we made the decision that we wanted to buy land and build and own our own facility. We were on the same timeline with the Twins.
They had similar concepts and philosophies with what we wanted to do. It’s been a tremendous partnership.”
The players at the academy are essentially entry-level professionals, as young as 16 years old. They play academy-based teams from other Major League organizations in the Dominican Summer League. If the prospects progress, they can earn their way to a minor-league team based in the U.S. and maybe someday to the majors.
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MLB
18 January 2017
