MLB teams
Eric Longenhagen, Special to ESPN.com 9y

A primer for MLB's international signing period

MLB

Nearly 30 percent of the players on Major League rosters this Opening Day came from Latin American countries (see chart, below), a number that inches higher every year as the sport continues to grow in Central and South America. Teams and buscones (Spanish for a "finder" or a kind of street agent) alike are building more sophisticated programs, academies and training complexes -- and talent-rich hotbeds like Venezuela and the Dominican Republic are pumping out more polished, high-end talent than ever before as a result. July 2 -- when the new crop of amateur international signees becomes eligible to formally agree to pro contracts every year -- should be circled on every baseball fan's calendar as the second most important day of the season -- after the draft -- for talent acquisition. Yet it remains an afterthought for all but the most immersed followers of the game.

That is likely because of the amount of time between when these kids sign and when they reach the majors and re-enter the collective consciousness of the casual baseball fan. Players who put pen to paper on Thursday probably won't be heard from again for between five and seven years, and likely won't set foot on a professional field in the United States for at least two.

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