European Baseball Academy

Courtesy of J. over at Mariner Minors, we learn that MLB has announced the names of participants in its second annual European Academy, to be held from July 27-August 18th in Tirrenia, Italy.

You can find the full list here.
The growth of baseball in Europe and Africa will be an interesting development to watch over the next few years. The Seattle Mariners appear to be leading the charge of investment into European scouting and talent development. Two years ago, the Mariners signed Gregory Halman, a Dutch outfielder whose father hailed from Aruba. Two years ago at the age of 16, Halman was named the Dutch Professional League’s MVP, and nearly won the triple crown playing in a league full of guys in their mid-20s. Halman is currently playing in the Northwest league, where he’s the league’s youngest position player.

Last year, the Ms signed Italian infielder Alex Liddi out of the European academy. This year, the Ms have already signed two players on the list, South African Anthony Phillips and Netherlander Kalian Sams.

Liddi in particular, along with fellow Italian and Cubs farmhand Allesandro Maestri, appear to be hard at work popularizing baseball in Italy. Both players have set up blogs giving accounts of their experiences playing in the United States.
Liddi’s blog
Maestri’s Blog

You’re probably going to want to run those sites through Babelfish if you want to check them out.