Two Minor Leaguers with European ties are currently visiting the old continent. One of them is Bryan Berglund. The 19-year-old right-hander with a 93-MPH-Fastball became the first Swedish-born player to be drafted in modern times, when the Florida Marlins selected him out of a Californian High School in the second round last June. He signed for a bonus of $ 572,500 in August and is preparing for his first professional season next year.
Berglund, who is on a twelve-day trip through Sweden according to a report on the website of the Swedish Baseball and Softball Federation, missed out on the IBAF Baseball World Cup in September, when the Marlins didn’t allow his participation shortly after the signing. But he is still in contact with Swedish national team coach Ulf Steinvall and has hopes to join the Swedish squad for the European Championships in Germany (July 23 to August 1) next Summer.
On Wednesday and Thursday he is expected to visit the Baseball Academy in Leksand. Berglund said that the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers showed the greatest interest among a total of 24 Major League organizations before the amateur draft. The Marlins’ plan for him is to start the 2010 season in Low-A. He hopes to reach Double-A by 2011 and the Major League level one year later, right in time, when the club is scheduled to move into a new ballpark in Miami.
The second mentioned Minor Leaguer, who is in Europe right now, is Frederic Hanvi. In difference to Berglund, who has his offseason home in California, the 20-year-old French catcher calls Montigny his home. He spoke to the team website of the Cougars and shared some experiences. He returned to France in early September after spending his second professional season in Florida, playing for the Gulf Coast League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins organization.
Hanvi is practicing every Monday, Thursday and Saturday with the Cougars and additionally works out personally on Tuesdays and Fridays. The Twins gave him a program, which he is supposed to follow as best he can since mid-October. In mid-January he will leave for Japan in preparation for Spring Training, which starts in March. He needs to make a good impression on the coaches in camp, so he can move up the ladder out of Rookie-ball. He won three national titles with the youth teams of the Cougars in the past.