Trainers Plan Boycott Of MLB Showcases In Latin America In Response To Draft Talk

SEE ALSO: Before International Draft, Reform Needed

SEE ALSO: Venezuela Showcase Moved To Panama

Major League Baseball’s annual Dominican national showcase is next week, but whether any players will show up is now in question.

In response to MLB’s reported international draft proposal that caught many in the industry off guard, trainers in Latin America are considering pulling their players out of the MLB’s upcoming Dominican and Venezuelan showcases. Trainers have taken a more strident tone toward MLB’s Dominican national showcase, which is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

“No one will take their players to the event next week,” said one prominent Dominican trainer. “There is a total boycott of all MLB events.”

Hundreds of trainers met Friday in the Dominican Republic to discuss how they should respond to a draft, where talk of a boycott occurred.

Trainers in Venezuela met Thursday and had similar discussions about the draft and whether they will send their players to MLB’s Venezuelan national showcase, which is Nov. 16-17 in Panama.

The showcases typically feature many of the top Dominican and Venezuelan prospects eligible to sign the following year on July 2.