Mets Ground Break New $7.5 Million Facility In Dominican Republic

By Rob K
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007

SANTO DOMINGO, D.R. – While other teams are focusing on signing free agents with proven players from Japan that include hefty bonus dollars, the Mets are setting up a major camp academy in the Dominican Republic.

The Mets last week broke ground on a roughly $7.5 million dollar international facility in Boca Chica, that has an opening target date sometime in April of 2008. The top guys that attended the ground breaking were COO Jeff Wilpon, GM Omar Minaya and Executive Vice President of Business Operations Dave Howard.

The huge 37-acre complex will have everything the organization and its players will need to give the players attending, the opportunity to be the best that they can be, along with excellent personal accommodations when they have down time.

For starters the work aspect of the complex will consist of three regular size playing fields, which one of them will include the exact dimensions as the new Citi Field ballpark. Other aspects include a half field, two bunting fields, four batting tunnels, five covered pitching mounds, a clubhouse, weight and training rooms, a dining hall, classrooms, a computer lab, and administrative offices.

Housing facilities will be able to handle 60 players as well as the managers and coaches and accommodations for 16 try-out players at any one time. Personal amenities include a golf driving range, swimming poll, shuffle board and tennis courts.

"We've established a presence in the Dominican Republic that is central to our player development efforts," said Wilpon. "This new training complex reinforces our commitment to further expanding our operations on an international level and fortifies our investment in developing the best baseball players in the majors."

"The state-of-art training academy is integral to attracting, signing, and fostering the development of the best talent in the Dominican Republic and Latin America," said Minaya. "This new academy creates a point of difference for our organization with a facility, education, and competitive center as we seek to find the next Pedro Martinezes and Jose Reyeses."

As if this wasn’t enough all ready, the Mets will have no problem picking up some live games against top quality opponents as around ten other Major League Baseball teams have rooted themselves in the area and schedules will be made for some pretty interesting and exciting baseball in the future down in the Dominican Republic.

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