Dominican prospect Angel Villalona plays first game in three years

It has been a long road for Dominican prospect Angel Villalona. Once one of the top five prospects in the Giants system, he was arrested and charged with murder in the Dominican Republic in 2009. He faced civil and criminal prosecution. The civil case was dropped after he made a payment to the family, and the criminal case eventually fell apart due to lack of evidence.

This is such a sad case. I predicted back in 2009 that the Villalona would eventually be cleared. I think Villalona or someone in his group may have committed the crime, but the whole situation seemed like a bar fight gone wrong. And I suggested the victim's family may have been trying to extort money.

We will never know what happened in that bar in La Romana, the hometown of Villalona. The prosecuting branch of Dominican law enforcement does not have the same resources at its disposal as their American counter parts, and that is the main reason I thought this case may get dropped. It seemed like a 'he said, he said' case to begin with, and without substantial resources it was a hard case to prove.

As for the victim and the civil case, the family of the victim probably got what they deserved even if it was an accident or a bar fight gone too far. Villalona gave them a payment of $139,000.

So, Villalona lost three years of his life and baseball career. Much worse can be said for the victim's family.  But he is only 21 and has finally been cleared to join the Giants system again. He started out with a game in the Dominican Summer League Thursday and went 1-4.

He is still going to have to jump through some hoops just to get a visa to play in the US again, so expect him to play in the DSL the rest of the season. And at 21, he could still turn into that power hitting first baseman that everyone predicted him to be back three years ago as an 18 year old prospect. It will be a long road though, as he is starting from square one in the lowest division of professional baseball in all of the minor league system.

Chicago Cubs to build training academy in Dominican Republic, Cubs va a contsruye academia en la Republica Dominicana

The Dominican Baseball Guy is always scouring the news to learn about the happenings with all the Dominican Baseball Academies of the MLB teams.  Every team now has a facility and Dominican Summer League team.  The Indians just opened a brand new Dominican baseball training academy last year.

Well, the Cubs are the latest team to revamp their Dominican baseball academy.  Their new facility will feature four fields, four covered batting cages, eight bullpens, a weight room, a cafeteria, two locker rooms, two meeting rooms, a large classroom, a video room, and an on-site dormitory.  Whew, that was a mouthful.

The team released some pics of what the new facility will look like.  Here is one of them:

Like most Dominican baseball academies, the Cubs facility will serve as a baseball classroom, but players will also have the chance to get their GED and learn English.  The Cubs estimate the project will take 12-18 months to complete, at a price tag of $6-8 million.  It is located in La Gina, outside the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Dominigo.

Cleveland Indians open Dominican training academy

The Cleveland Indians increased their presence in the Dominican Republic this week by opening a brand new $2.6 million facility in the country.  The team of course already had a team in the Dominican Summer League and a small complex, but the new facility features brand new baseball facilities as well as dorm and living quarters to house 72 players.

The Indians are just keeping up with the curve here.  Every single Major League Baseball team now has facilities in the Dominican Republic and a team in the Dominican Summer League.  In fact, the Mets, Yankees, and Cubs all have two teams in the vaunted summer league.

The facilities and teams host mainly Dominican players between the ages of 16 and 20, but also hosts players from other Latin American countries.  If the players show good enough stuff in the Dominican academies or the summer league, then they get a shot at the low-A ball in the states.

The Indians new facility is in San Antonio de Guerra which is just outside the capital of Santo Domingo.