3/13/2019-
Warning to players
The Pecos League of Professional Baseball and its member
clubs will not sign players from The California Winter League.
If you play in the California Winter League you will not be
eligible to play in the Pecos League.
Several other independent league teams are no longer
accepting players from the CWL as well.
Players from the California Winter League are not accepted by Pecos League Teams as well as several teams in Pacific Association. Once a player goes to the California Winter League he realizes he has virtually no options of being signed despite what the salesman told him.
The California Winter League runs a business with a high
pressure sales team that contacts players and attempts to get
them to pay to attend their league in Palm Springs, California.
They tell players that the league is heavily scouted and they
will have a chance to get signed.
What they don't tell players is they will have over 300 players
and they only have limited guaranteed contracts. And of the guaranteed contracts more than 90% of the players get released.
In 2016 the Pecos League received 100's of calls from players
who attended the camp and didn't get signed or even talked to
by coaches at the CWL.
Players will receive a call from a California Winter League
Salesman attempting you to pay money to attend the
California Winter League.
This salesman will attempt to lead you to believe if you attend
the California Winter League you will get signed. The
California Winter League pays Frontier League Teams to invite
players to Spring Training. Almost all players get released in
Spring Training.
In 2016, 26 players were released from Pecos League
Contracts that were fooled into going to the California Winter
League.
One California Winter League player signed with the Pecos
League before the CWL and decided to attend..
"I was told if I went to the CWL I would get signed to goto Spring Training in Frontier League. I was
going to use Pecos as backup...That didn't happen and now I
have no where to go.."
- In 2012 a coach at the California Winter League offered
10 players contracts with the Roswell Invaders without
authorization.
- In 2013 many Pecos League players reported that CWL
Salesman told them they could get them signed to the Pecos
League and they did not.
Mike Reeves 2019 California City Whiptails Manager "I have warned my guys not to get poached it is $3500, plus food and travel out there to get banned. I have had players who went there begging my for another shot, i feel bad but i can't help them...Amazingly they conn guys into going thinking they are going to get signed in Frontier League. They are messing with these kids dreams."
Justin Thompson 2017 Monterey Amberjacks Manager "If a team wants to sign you they aren't going to charge $3500. The good thing is the real players are smarter than that so it kinda culls out the real players, if you are a real players you aren't going to CWL for $3500."
Bryan Kloppe 2016 Roswell Invaders Field Manager "If you
don't have affliated experience I would advise players to avoid
all winter leagues... they are death traps to your career. There
is confusion and you will be banned."
Chris Treibt 2015 Roswell Invaders Manager and 2012
Participant of California Winter League says "They make a lot
of promises and really mislead players... It is not an honest
operation...It is a dead end, they take your money and lead
you to believe you will get signed and you get no where. They
paid the Frontier League a lot of money to use their name.. If
you talk to Frontier League Managers they aren't building their
teams from the CWL. They get players released from affliated
ball. The problem is every year there is a new crop of players
that don't know any better until they have lost their money and
been banned from leagues. They offer no refunds."
Darrell Carrillo 2015 Las Cruces Vaqueros Manager "Why is
the California Winter League calling all of my players trying to
charge them $3000 and telling them they can get them signed
in the Frontier League. They have never seen my players...
These guys are preying on these kids dreams. The kids don't
know any better. At least the Pecos League is trying to stand
up for the players."
JD Droddy 2016 Tucson Saguaros Manager "Earning a
starting job in the Frontier League without affliated experience
is a very tough task. It is a very good league and most
position players have affliated experience. Going to a Winter
League isn't going to get you where you dream to go. I have
gotten 100's of calls from guys that wish they would have
known the truth before the went."
Ryan Stevens Director of player procurement with Alpine
Cowboys "It is a joke that they run an entire operation on
misleading players. I would hate to have to run a business
that way. I think it is great the Pecos League stood up to them
for what was right. In 2011 we signed players from there and it
was nothing but a problem. The Pecos League is much better
without their players. The problem is there are so many kids
that are lied to."
Do your research before committing to the California Winter
League.
Before you register with the California Winter League try to
find a friend or someone who has had a successful experience
going there. Almost all the players who sign up wish they would have known.
