The California Winter League is an instructional showcase league for free agent baseball players who are looking to earn a professional contract before spring training begins. The league was created by Andrew Starke in 2010, and takes place in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

, at the Palm Springs Stadium complex which is a former spring training facility of the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

Instructors

Each season, the California Winter League hires current MLB pro scouts and professional independent league managers to act as instructors during the CWL season. These instructors manage games, work to develop CWL players, and sign CWL players during their time at the CWL. Every year, roughly 40% of CWL players receive a professional contract offer. The league has a partnership agreement with the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

for scouting and player development.

Purpose

The purpose of the California Winter League is to provide coaching and an avenue for players to get noticed by scouts with the ultimate goal of signing a professional contract. Past players have signed with any of various

Independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball league in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball or its affiliated Minor League Baseball system (historically referred to as organized baseball). Inde ...

s and

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

organizations.

References

External links

California Winter League website
Professional sports leagues in the United States Winter baseball leagues Sports in Riverside County, California Palm Springs, California Independent baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in California Sports leagues established in 2009 2009 establishments in California {{California-sport-stub