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Dave Littlefield encountered a severely depleted minor-league system when he was named Pirates general manager almost three years ago.

He knew there were only two realistic ways to re-stock it.

One was through the amateur draft. The other was by mining the fertile grounds of Latin America, where the Pirates have invested millions of dollars and where they run two academies designed to develop teen-age players.

"It's easy to say, 'Go to Japan and get ready-made major-league talent,' but you're paying an up-front fee, plus negotiating a contract for every player," Littlefield said. "We're not going to be in that marketplace. It's more cost-effective for us to invest in the academies."

New frontier

Half a century ago, the Pirates were trailblazers in Latin America.

The late, great scout Howie Haak -- dubbed "King of the Caribbean" -- signed many Spanish-speaking players.

He also recommended that the Pirates sign a Puerto Rican outfielder named Roberto Clemente, who was playing in the Los Angeles Dodgers' farm system.

The rest of the league caught up to and surpassed the Pirates in Latin America as the 20th Century waned.

Littlefield knew from his days as the Florida Marlins assistant GM that recruiting and developing Latino ballplayers was imperative.

That is why he has doubled the Pirates' scouting staff in Latin America and why he created a new position six months ago, hiring Rene Gayo as his Director of Latin American Scouting.

More recently, Littlefield made Louie Eljaua -- the Marlins' former director of Latin American Scouting -- a special assistant to the GM.

Eljaua was the Marlins scout who signed future World Series hero Miguel Cabrera in Venezuela -- not that the Pirates are going to follow a Cabrera-like script in developing players.

Cabrera was given a Venezuelan-record $1.9 million signing bonus, and he rocketed to the big leagues by age 20.

The Pirates don't have that kind of money. They sign Latino players to bonuses that range from $5,000 to $100,000, not in the ballpark with teams such as the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"We need to get players who aren't refined and then develop them," said Brian Graham, the Pirates' director of player development. "There are a lot of players spread out in a lot of different directions in Latin America."

Academy life

According to a report in USA Today, major-league teams last year invested $76 million in the Dominican Republic, which produces the majority of Latin American players.

Nearly one in four major-leaguers was born in a Spanish-speaking country, including stars such as Sammy Sosa and Pedro Martinez.

Nearly every team either rents or owns a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. The Pirates

rent one there, housing 35 players, and one in Venezuela, housing 30 players.

Each of the Pirates' academy has a living facility, a field, a batting cage and a locker room.

Each also has been significantly upgraded since Littlefield came aboard, said Graham, who is responsible for operating the academies.

Graham hires the coaches, the directors, the English teachers, the administrators, the cooks and the cleaning people. He also negotiates leases with the cities.

Players generally are signed at age 16 and paid $800 per month, the same as lowest-level minor-leaguers. The majority come from poverty-stricken homes and speak little English.

"For us, baseball might be a way to get out of poverty and help our families," said Pirates pitcher Salomon Torres, a Dominican.

In the late 1990s, during a hiatus in his playing career, Torres worked as a pitching coach at the Montreal Expos' Dominican baseball academy. Littlefield, who is conversant in Spanish, was his boss.

Once in an academy, players have a three-year window in which they must either advance to a team's minor-league system or be released.

For those three years, the only time players leave the academy is for the winter holidays.

"It's quite a process," Graham said. "The players eat, sleep and breathe baseball. Certainly, there is a sense of urgency."

Fruits of labor

The Pirates' goal, Graham said, is for the academies to stock the minor-league system with 10 players per year.

That goal already is being met.

"We're definitely getting players who are supplying our minor-league system and have a chance to be big-leaguers," Graham said.

Among those players: Ronnie Paulino, a catcher with Class AA Altoona who was hitting .323 going into the weekend; Javier Guzman, a shortstop with Class A Hickory who was batting .324; and Victor Mercedes, a second baseman with Class A Lynchburg.

Former major-league shortstop Esteban Beltre runs the Pirates' academy in the Dominican Republic.

Many teams, including the Pirates, hope that Latin American players soon will be part of the amateur draft (Puerto Rican players already are included in the draft).

That would help to even the playing field.

"You read the surveys, and teams like the Yankees and Dodgers pay larger bonuses," Graham said, "so they have a chance to get more players and better players."

Littlefield and Graham are determined to instill an organization-wide philosophy on everything from bullpen routines to bunting drills.

That is why U.S.-based instructors frequently visit Latin America and why the academy coaches and managers attend spring training and work at the Pirates' instructional leagues every year.

It's also why the best and brightest from the academies are invited to spring training. Nine such players made the trip this year, and Graham could see they were well-schooled.

"I remember a bunting practice, and they bunted exactly like we wanted them to," he said. "It was a direct reflection of how good a job the coaching staff there is doing."

On the horizon

More than 2,500 minor-league players were born in Spanish-speaking countries, and the baseball world continues to expand.

Major League Baseball for the second time opened its season in Tokyo, and the Pirates will play an early July series in Puerto Rico against the Expos.

Australia and South Korea are rising in prominence, which is why the Pirates have a scouting presence in both areas.

What's more, the Pirates invite two Korean professional teams into their organization every year. The Hyundai Unicorns visit spring training in January, and the SK Wyverns join the Pirates in instructional league play.

Those two teams met in the Korean World Series last year.

In the meantime, the Pirates take precautions to help the assimilation process for the Latin-American academy "graduates" who advance to the minor leagues.

Besides the academies, players might come from Mexico or other Latin-American countries.

"We try our best to have a Spanish-speaking person at every level of A-ball and also roving coaches who have a grasp of it," Littlefield said. "You can't do enough, really."

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