By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com | 02/02/12 11:40 AM EST
The Cubs' next Starlin Castro will hone his baseball skills at a state-of-the-art academy planned in the Dominican Republic.
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, members of his family and a contingent of Cubs staffers were in the Dominican Republic on Thursday morning to unveil renderings of the new facility, to be constructed over the next two years.
Located in La Gina, near the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, the Cubs facility will span 50 acres, making it the largest academy in the country. It will be open year-round, complete with baseball fields and training facilities, housing for Minor League players during the season and for Major Leaguers in the offseason, and will serve as an education center for Cubs prospects.
A rendering of the new Cubs academy in the Dominican Republic, which is expected to take about 12-18 months to build.
Castro, the Cubs' star shortstop, was signed as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2006. The Cubs signed closer Carlos Marmol in the Dominican in 1999.
The new academy will serve players from across the world, including Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Nicaragua, Aruba, Curacao and Mexico, in addition to the Dominican Republic.
The Cubs estimate the complex will take 12-18 months to build.
The academy will feature four fields, including one with artificial turf, four covered batting cages, eight bullpens, a weight room, a cafeteria and kitchen, two locker rooms, two meeting rooms, a large classroom that can be converted to four smaller classrooms, plus a theatre and video room. An on-site dormitory will house up to 80 players and eight staff members.
The academy will serve as an educational center equipped with classrooms and staff to teach English and Spanish to players and personnel, and players will be able to earn their GED high school equivalent. The Cubs say the center will place an emphasis on education, health and nutrition.
It is not the first investment in the Dominican Republic by the Ricketts family. They recently donated to the Institute for Latin American Concern to fund a clinic whose goal is to reduce hypertension and diabetes in the northern part of the country.
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