Above: the Bahamas
Baseball is extremely popular in the Spanish and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.
Players from the Dominican Republic account for more than 10 percent of all players in Major League Baseball, and some of the best young prospects in the majors hail from places like Aruba and Curacao.
In the English-speaking Caribbean, baseball hasn’t found much popularity, with one major exception: the Bahamas.
Given its proximity to the United States, the Bahamas has, over time, developed a love for the game, with a very strong Little League programme and several Bahamians who have made the jump to MLB, as far back as Andre Rodgers, who debuted for the New York Giants in 1957.
In the Dominican Republic, it has become commonplace for baseball franchises to set up baseball academies to train, educate and develop young athletes and potentially bring them to the United States to play in the minors and, eventually, the Majors.
So why not the Bahamas? Especially with the country’s newly opened National Stadium?
It may be relatively small compared to the Dominican Republic, But, like the Dominican Republic, players from the Bahamas are not subject to the First-Year Player Draft, meaning they could be signed as free agents.
Indeed, it was rumoured that the Atlanta Braves, the last team to play a Bahamian, Antoan Richardson, in 2011, had long considered opening an academy in New Providence.
Should an MLB team do so? What do you think?
Tell us in the comments section.
— CJ