Miami Marlins unveil new 35-acre Dominican Republic academy and development complex
Key members of the Miami Marlins organization were on site in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, Friday afternoon as the organization celebrated the grand opening of its new player development complex.
The unveiling of the academy and development complex comes 16 months after they broke ground on the facility in June 2021 and was completed on a $15 million budget.
Among those on hand for the ceremony: Dominican Republic vice minister for sports development Santos Kennedy Vargas, Marlins chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman and his wife Cynthia, general manager Kim Ng, chief operating officer Caroline O’Connor, senior director of international operations Adrian Lorenzo, director of minor league operations Hector Crespo and a slew of Dominican Marlins players and prospects including starting pitchers Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera and Eury Perez as well as outfielders Bryan De La Cruz and Jerar Encarnacion.
The group spent the afternoon touring the facility before holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“I’m extraordinarily excited about the academy,” Sherman said on site, according to MLB.com. “This place is just incredible. The facilities for baseball are one thing, but more importantly, facilities for these young athletes to go for their dream. The medical facilities, the training facilities and food facilities, the housing facilities and most importantly, the classroom facilities, because not everybody can make it. Everybody wants to make it, but giving people an education, it’s just incredible.”
The academy and development complex is built on 35 acres of land — more than double the size of the Marlins’ old complex — and includes:
▪ Three Major League size-playing fields, along with an agility field, four covered batting cage tunnels and six covered pitching mounds.
▪ A two-story athletic and administration building that includes a video room, weight room, training room and hydrotherapy room.
▪ A state-of-the-art residential complex that has more than 100 beds and includes three classrooms, a computer learning center, a kitchen/cafeteria area and two recreational spaces.
Crespo said last month that the Marlins were working on logistics to hold an offseason camp at the new academy.
“Trying to get as many guys over there,” Crespo said, “just to give them access to the weight room and supplements and stuff like that so they can have a good offseason.”
Marlins hire Ocampo as assistant GM
Changes continue within the Marlins’ front office.
The latest move came with the hiring of Oz Ocampo as an assistant general manager, a source confirmed to the Miami Herald.
Ocampo has held various roles as an MLB executive over the past two decades. Most recently, he was with the Houston Astros as an international crosschecker this past season. It was his second stint with the Astros. Previously, he led Houston’s international scouting department from 2012-17 before spending two seasons as a special assistant to general manager Jeff Luhnow. He left for a job with the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 2019 season before returning to Houston this season.
During his first stint with Houston, Ocampo had a prominent role in the Astros signing starting pitchers Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and Luis Garcia — all of whom are part of the club’s starting rotation — as well as first baseman Yuli Gurriel.
Ocampo also had stops with the St. Louis Cardinals and MLB commissioner’s office in both the Dominican Republic and New York.
The Marlins already have two assistant general managers on their staff in Brian Chattin and Dan Greenlee. Chattin has been with the Marlins for 25 seasons, including the last seven as an assistant general manager. Greenlee has been with Miami for five seasons, including the past two as an assistant general manager.
