Pittsburgh Pirates Unveil Designs for New Latin American Headquarters, Training Complex in Dominican Republic

Pittsburgh Pirates officially breaks ground Jan. 22 in Dominican Republic

01/21/2008 -- Pittsburgh Pirates Chairman of the Board Bob Nutting today unveiled the designs for the ballclub's new Latin American headquarters and baseball training academy in the Dominican Republic. Also on hand for the announcement were Pirates President Frank Coonelly and Senior Vice President and General Manager Neal Huntington.

Located on a 46-acre property in the municipality of El Toro in the Dominican Republic, the complex will serve as the new headquarters for the Pirates Latin American baseball operations. The complex will serve as the training and housing facility for players on the ballclub's Dominican Summer League roster and other players invited to train at the academy.

Expected to be completed in the summer of 2009, the campus style complex will feature two full and one half fields, a spacious clubhouse capable of holding more than two full teams, weight rooms, covered batting cages and pitching mounds, bullpens, trainers' rooms, classrooms, computer and video training rooms, conference rooms, administration offices and a dormitory that will be able to house and feed 90 players, coaches and personnel.

"After the change in control of the ballclub a year ago, I traveled to the Dominican Republic to assess our operations and current facility, as well as tour other club's facilities in the area. I walked away with extreme mixed feelings," said Nutting. "I was thoroughly impressed with the people that are now leading our operations; however, I was not convinced we were providing them with the tools they need to maximize our opportunity of finding quality talent in Latin America."

Much like the newly renovated Pirate City complex in Bradenton, Florida, that serves as the home for the Pirates Spring Training and the ballclub's Gulf Coast League entry, this complex will serve all the needs of the ballclub's baseball operations staff and players in one centralized location. It will be a significant improvement over the Pirates current rented facility that consists of just one field, inadequate training facilities and rented living space miles away from the field.

The building of the complex demonstrates the ballclub's long-term commitment to having strong operations in the Dominican Republic and throughout Latin America.

"Finding and developing talent in Latin America has to be a top priority for our ballcub," said Nutting. "I am committed to providing our Baseball Operations staff with the tools necessary to sign and develop the best talent not only in Latin America, but domestically and in other international markets as well."

The Dominican Republic continues to be a growing hotbed for major league talent, with more than 40 percent of all foreign born players on 2007 Opening Day rosters born in the Dominican Republic, according to Major League Baseball.

"In light of the organization's increased focus on the Latin American market, we purchased enough property and designed the complex in a manner that will allow for us to double the number of players training there and the number of Pirates affiliated teams participating in the Dominican Summer League in the future," added Nutting.

"Once complete, this facility will be recognized as one of the very best major league complexes in the Dominican Republic and will have an immediate positive impact on our operations in Latin America," said Coonelly. "It will give us a significant advantage in our efforts to attract, retain and instruct the best players, coaches and scouts in the region. It is exactly what the Pirates needed to again become a major player in the Latin American market."

"This complex is critical to the future of our club's scouting and development system and is the first step in a strategy to aggressively scout and secure talent in international markets," added Huntington. "We are currently exploring ways to expand our footprint in other countries including Japan, Australia and throughout Europe. However, with the level of talent in Latin America, that clearly needs to be the top priority for our international operations."

Currently the club has 20 scouts covering nine Latin American countries, including the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Columbia, Nicaragua, Panama, Curacao and more. In addition, while other Major League Baseball teams have abandoned operations in Venezuela, the Pirates continue to field an affiliate team in the Venezuelan Summer League and are aggressively pursuing talent in the country.

The Pirates leadership group will travel to the Dominican Republic to host an official groundbreaking ceremony tomorrow, Tuesday, January 22. Expected to attend is the President of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna, Dominican Republic Sports Minister Felipe Payano, as well as former and current Pirates players from Latin America.

Source: MLB

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