There’s an interesting article by Jerry Crasnick about the difficult transition for Latin American baseball players. The article mentions the Tiger organization’s processes for helping the players.

The Detroit Tigers have a director of Latin American operations, Manny Crespo, who ensures there’s uniformity of instruction throughout the system. The organization’s young Latin players are drilled on the same cutoff and relay plays that are used at Comerica Park.

Off the field, Laurie Soltman, the Tigers’ coordinator of international player programs, makes sure that young players receive English instruction and helps them with the fine art of navigating supermarket aisles or ordering dinner in a restaurant. The Tigers also help young Latin players with the tax ramifications of their signing bonuses.

“You do the best you can to make the transition as easy as possible,” said Al Avila, Detroit’s assistant general manager. “It doesn’t guarantee that a kid is going to make it, but it gives you a better shot if you help him along.”

While it is great that Detroit is helping with the transtional elements, I’m happy to hear about the uniformity of instruction throughout the system.