PROVO — Every summer, Tony Reagins assigns Angels to places where he feels they can do the most damage. Then he carefully keeps track of each one, hoping they learn to hit, steal and score as often as possible.
Reagins is the director of player development for the defending World Series champion Anaheim Angels. His job? To oversee the development of young baseball players, players who might one day carry the Angels to another championship.
Within a couple of hectic weeks following the annual Major League Baseball draft held in early June, Reagins and others within the organization send a roster-full of players to their rookie-league affiliate in Provo, home of the Provo Angels of the Pioneer League. For many of those players, it's their first professional baseball experience.
The Provo Angels come together from diverse areas, backgrounds and cultures to play a grueling, 80-day, 76-game schedule. They put in long hours at the ballpark, and when they're not playing, they're usually traveling by bus to locales like Casper, Idaho Falls and Missoula. Their ultimate goal is to toil their way through the Angels' minor league farm system in order to fulfill their dreams of reaching the highest level — Major League Baseball.
Geographically, Provo isn't too far away from the parent club's headquarters in Anaheim, Calif. But for the Provo Angels players, Anaheim might as well be a million miles away. A small percentage of those who start out in the minors ever reach Major League Baseball. And for those who do reach the big leagues, the amount of time they spend in the minors varies.
"Some guys spend 10 years in the minors," Reagins said.
While that may sound discouraging for aspiring baseball players, the Provo Angels can take solace in the fact that a number of current Anaheim Angels started out as humble beginners. Darin Erstad, John Lackey, Francisco Rodriguez, Tim Salmon, Troy Percival, Bengie Molina, Ramon Ortiz, Scott Shields, Troy Glaus and Garret Anderson were all Anaheim draft picks who worked their way up . Now, each is sporting a World Series ring.
From the Anaheim organization's perspective, developing future stars is what it's all about. "You have to have a plan," Reagins said. "We believe in developing young talent. If you can do that, you don't have to pay an exorbitant amount for free agents."
Provo Angels manager Tom Kotchman, who is also an Anaheim scout, takes pride in the World Series championship.
"They're the world champs because hopefully in a small way, what we do in the minor leagues maybe had something to do with it," he said.
"There are so many pieces to the puzzle you've got to have. You've got to have the scouts that sign the players, you have to have your minor league player development people that develop them and obviously the people at the big league level are probably second-to-none as far as getting the players to buy into the system."
Rookies have to start somewhere, and for some in the Angels' organization, that somewhere is Provo.
Don't be fooled by the word "minor." For Anaheim and the rest of Major League Baseball, minor league baseball is a major undertaking. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how the 2003 Provo Angels were built and how the players prepare for their shot at the big time.
The draft
For three months during the summer, Kotchman manages the Provo Angels. The other nine months of the year, he evaluates high school and college players. Kotchman is one of about 30 scouts employed by the Anaheim Angels. Kotchman, who has been with the Angels for 25 years, is assigned to scout the Florida area, a veritable hotbed of baseball talent. The scouting process culminates with the annual draft for high school and college players the first week in June. Anaheim depends on scouts like Kotchman to give them reliable information about the players who are eligible to be drafted.
"We draft a lot of players from Florida," Reagins said. "(Kotchman) has an idea about those players from following them. He's part of that network in the state of Florida so he has a lot of background information on a lot of those players. He's very valuable."
Of the 50 players drafted by the Angels earlier on June 3-4, 13 hail from Florida. Provo's opening day roster — the season began June 17 — featured 11 players from the Sunshine State.
As any baseball executive will tell you, the draft is an inexact science. There are many first-round picks who flame out. Meanwhile, there are guys like Anaheim pitcher Scot Shields, who was picked after the 30th round.
Following the draft, the task is to sign the players to contracts. The Angels' first-round pick this year was a high school shortstop, Brandon Wood, from Scottsdale, Ariz. He signed not long after the draft. Sometimes, negotiations become protracted. The No. 2 pick, left-handed pitcher Anthony Whittington, still has not signed, Reagins said.
As of Saturday, the Angels had come to terms with 16 of the 50 players they drafted, according to Reagins. The No. 5 pick, former Florida State outfielder Blake Balkcom, is signed and is expected to report to Provo soon, Reagins said. Centerfielder Reggie Willits was picked by Anaheim in the seventh round. He was signed the day after he was drafted by Kevin Ham, who is a scout and the Provo Angels' hitting coach. Negotiations took place at Willits' home in Fort Cobb, Okla.
"He drove up to my place and we had my agent on the phone," said Willits, a University of Oklahoma product. "We negotiated right there. We were there for about 5 1/2 hours one night and tried to get it done as quick as possible. I wanted to get with the team and get going."
Mini-camp
About a week after the draft, Anaheim held a five-day mini-camp in Mesa, Ariz. There, Reagins, Kotchman and other members of the organization evaluated their players and gave them their first lessons on being a professional ballplayer.
"We start to implement the way the Angels go about their business and how they develop, how they dress on road trips, being a professional baseball player and what we expect from them as Angels," Reagins said. "The process starts as soon as the contract is signed."
Provo-bound
The Angels have two rookie league teams, Provo of the Pioneer League and Mesa of the Arizona League. Team officials decide if players should be sent to Provo or Mesa.
"The Provo players are a bit older than our Mesa players," Reagins said. "Mesa is mostly high school and Latin American players. Provo kids are college, junior college players, a couple of high school players and Latin players who have been around a couple of years."
If the players in Mesa prove themselves, they could move up to the next level in Provo. Wood, the Angels' No. 1 pick, is currently playing in Mesa and could find himself in Provo sometime this summer.
"We'll see how he handles the Arizona Rookie League," Reagins said. "If everything goes well, we'll challenge him at the next level."
Very few players remain with the same rookie league team for more than one season; thus Provo has only a few players remaining from the 2002 squad. In other words, there is plenty of turnover from year-to-year in rookie ball. Still, because of his extensive scouting, Kotchman was well-acquainted with seven of the 11 pitchers as well as a handful of position players that ended up on Provo's roster.
Willits, the highest draft pick currently on the Provo team, wasn't concerned with where he embarked on his pro career. "I've waited for this my entire life. I didn't really care where they sent me, whether I stayed in Mesa, came here or somewhere else. I just wanted to start playing."
Players arrived in Mesa on June 9 and by June 14, a group of nearly 30 departed for Provo.
Latin influence
Latin American players have been making an impact on Major League Baseball for decades. That influence seems to be growing as big league teams heavily invest in Latin American players. Reagins says about 10 percent of all of the players in the Angels' organization are from Latin America.
Though Latin American players cannot be drafted, they can be signed as free agents, though they must be at least 16 years old. The Anaheim Angels lease a scouting headquarters in the Dominican Republic. It includes an office for a handful of scouts, two baseball fields, a clubhouse, batting cages, pitching mounds, a kitchen and a dormitory.
When the Angels hold an open tryout, as many as 100 hopefuls turn out, Reagins says.
"The goal of many youngsters in Latin America is to come to the United States and play professional baseball," he says. "We don't want them to fail. We try to give them the best chance to succeed."
By rule, big league teams have 30 days to evaluate players. After that point, they either sign them or let them go. The ones that are signed play in the Dominican Summer League as part of the DSL Angels. Provo Angel outfielder Warner Madrigal signed with Anaheim two years ago when he was 16. He played for the DSL Angels last season.
"They play baseball every day," Reagins says. " Each player plays at least one year in the Dominican Summer League. We bring them to the United State when we feel they're ready."
Baseball isn't the only thing the players learn in the Dominican Summer League. "They take English classes twice a week," Reagins said. "We teach them how to order food in English and write checks. It helps them with the shock of being in the United States better."
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the process of bringing foreign players to the U.S. has become more complicated. Acquiring visas isn't as easy as it was before.
"The U.S. government is being very strict and cautious about who they let into the States," Reagins says. "There are extensive background checks. The process was quicker before 9-11."
As for the Spanish-speaking players, Kotchman can speak broken Spanish, at least enough to communicate effectively. "A lot of these guys have already been Americanized," Kotchman says. Goas, who is from Puerto Rico, serves as the team's unofficial interpreter.
On the job training
Once the players convened in Provo, Kotchman began the process of molding his team. The roster was quite a melting pot. Provo's opening-day roster featured four players from the Dominican Republic, two from Venezuela, two from Canada and one from Puerto Rico. Others hailed from Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Idaho.
"You get your scouting reports from the front office and learn as much about the players as you can," Kotchman said. "Not just their tools, but what makes them tick on and off the field. It just doesn't happen overnight. You almost take baby steps."
"These kids start at square one," Kotchman continued. "You give them three or four sheets of rules for on the field, for the locker room, for the clubhouse, for the training room, for the hotel. The best advice I ever got when I started 25 years ago was, 'Assume they know nothing.' It's a learning process, day by day."
The most difficult challenge for these players?
"Learning how to play 76 games in 80 days," Kotchman says. "And the bus rides and the travel and learning how to let bad days go and not let one bad day as a hitter turn into three-, four-, five-, six-day slump."
"It's a big change from college," Willits says. "It's an everyday thing. You don't have to worry about school and stuff like that, but the biggest thing is getting your body ready to come here every day. Instead of three or four times a week, it's seven days a week. It's going to be an adjustment, but I'm ready to make that adjustment."
One of the toughest adjustments involves hitting with wooden bats. Aluminum bats are outlawed in professional baseball, though aluminum is what high schools and colleges use.
Kotchman has been extremely successful at managing rookie league teams over the years. Before he came to Provo, he led the Boise Hawks to 12 championships in 17 years. With Provo, he's won the Southern Division title both years.
"It's a joy having him around," Reagins said of Kotchman. "He has passion for the game. He works hard. He probably gets three hours of sleep per night. He's tireless at what he does. He loves what he does. (The Angels) have been the beneficiary of his knowledge and expertise."
Kotchman is a stickler when it comes to the fundamentals. For instance, when his players field a ball that has stopped rolling with their glove rather than bare-handing the ball, they are fined a six-pack of either Diet Pepsi or bottled water. "Reason being is, if you bobble the ball in the infield, do you throw it with your glove or with your hand?" he says. "It's a lazy habit. Everybody does it. That's the difference between the guy being out and safe at first base. Is it a little thing? Yes. Is it a big thing? Yes, it is."
It didn't take long for Kotchman to earn the respect of his players. "He's a great baseball guy," Willits says. "I look forward to playing for him. He can help me a lot. His past speaks for itself. He's a great coach and always does well. I feel fortunate to be here."
If these Provo Angels can learn to hit, steal and score, among other things, they have a good chance of moving up through Anaheim's farm system. Who knows? Maybe a few of them will find themselves in the big leagues in a few years.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com