El Torneo Supremo

El Torneo Supremo (the Great Tournament) is an event organized by Major League Baseball in the Dominican Republic to provide an alternative venue for unsigned prospects to showcase their talent. The first edition of the event was held April 11-July 30, 2011.

Background

Since the 1980s, player development in the Dominican Republic has largely been done through the Dominican Summer League and the various major league complexes installed in the country. Under this system, in order to have a chance to play professional baseball, young Dominicans must sign a contract with a major league team at age 16, leaving school, and play in the DSL in order to earn an opportunity to secure a rare visa to go stateside and begin a career in organized baseball in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and Arizona League. In the late 2000s, investigative reporters began to look into the dark side of this system, which was described as a sweatshop: the young players who do not make it to the USA earn almost no salary (and their signing bonuses are often leeched by intermediaries) and learn no skills during their two or three years playing in the DSL, then are turned away and left to fend for themselves.

Because scouts will not look at older players, there is no domestic development of the game at the college or senior level, and the country has been unable to develop a viable national team as a result, in spite of the popularity of the sport and the vast number of players. The Torneo Supremo was developed by MLB as an alternative to this system.

Set-Up

The Torneo features four teams made up of unsigned players, each managed by someone with experience at high levels of competition. Two professional pitching instructors are also available to assist players. The teams play one game a week to determine a champion, and players are given a chance to improve their skills and showcase their talents in front of major league scouts. They also receive in-classroom instruction and are taught some life skills which will be of use in helping those that do not make it further in baseball find meaningful employment after their time in the tournament.

The tournament is overseen by a Tournament Director; the first person named to the position was Moises Alou, a university-educated major league veteran and the son of probably the most-respected name in the history of Dominican baseball, Felipe Alou. The four managers were former major league infielders Juan Bell and Nelson Norman, former minor league player Jorge Meran, and veteran Dominican baseball coach Nelson Silverio. The two pitching instructors were former major leaguers Mel Rojas (incidentally, Moises Alou's cousin) and Ben Rivera.

It was probably not a coincidence that Alou, Bell, Norman, Rojas and Rivera were all part of the Montreal Expos' organization in the 1990s (along with the older Alou); the Expos' Dominican operations had a reputation for being a cut above the average at the time, providing better instruction and support for its players than other development complexes established in the country.

The initial championship game for El Torneo Supremo was held on July 30, 2011 at Estadio Quisqueya, the premier baseball venue in the country. The first edition was deemed a huge success by Major League Baseball, with 23 players being signed by major league teams as a result of being showcased in the high-profile event.

Related Sites

• Press Release from MLB
• Press release on the first championship game