Dec. 14, 2017
Hoover Met Complex Selected to Host East Coast Pro Showcase
The East Coast Pro showcase will bring about 150 top high school baseball players in the eastern United States where 500 Major League Baseball scouts will evaluate the players as they practice and compete in games. The East Coast Pro organization has an option to keep the event in the city two additional years.
“East Coast Pro is excited to bring our world class event to the Hoover Met Stadium and Hoover. The decision to move our event to Hoover was a no-brainer after we saw the major league style facility,” said John Castleberry, a scout for the San Francisco Giants and an East Coast Cross Checker, speaking at a press conference at the facility. “We are looking forward to having the top players from the eastern seaboard come to be evaluated and enjoy the Souther hospitality of Hoover this summer. For four days this will be the Mecca of amateur baseball. The event has a strong reputation in Major League Baseball. You’re not going to see players like this in one venue site anywhere in the country.”
Castleberry said more than 90 percent of the players who participate in the event end up signing contracts to play professional baseball.
During the four days of the East Coast Showcase players and their families will have an opportunity to attend seminars about the Major League draft process, and while games are usually not open to the public, but organizers say they are considering the possibility of making a game open to the public.
MLB club sponsors next year include the Florida Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays. Players will be selected by scouts and divided into six teams.
