By . David Mccormack . and Associated  Press Reporter . With baseball players from Latin American dominating the MLB, teams are doing everything they can to ensure that prospective star players can adapt to a new country, culture and most significantly language. Hundreds of young Latin American players around the country are now speaking English with ease, thanks to greater resources devoted to teaching language skills and other day-to-day tasks in American life as part of the transition to baseball in the U.S. All 30 major league teams now have academies in the Dominican Republic, and a handful of organizations run similar operations in Venezuela as well. Hundreds of young Latin American players around the country are now speaking English with ease, thanks to greater resources devoted to teaching language skills and other day-to-day tasks in American life as part of the transition to baseball in the U.S. ‘There's no doubt it's different today than it was a generation ago for these players, with the media coverage, the impact of social media, the coverage, the television, everything,’ San Diego Padres manager Bud Black said. ‘These guys are exposed.’ The San Francisco Giants say they have increased spending by 400 percent over the past decade. ‘It has increased steadily each year as we have added more components to the assimilation program,’ said Alan Lee, Giants Director of Arizona Baseball Operations. The Giants estimate they have helped train 325 Latin players with English skills in the last 15 years, while also providing Spanish training for those seeking to learn. San Francisco Giants baseball prospects Jose Murel and Sandy Perez, right, read beginner English books in class in Scottsdale, Ariz. Roughly 200 players have taken Spanish courses in the past four years. Black and several other managers and GMs say there are fewer issues in which the language barrier causes their jobs to be more challenging than even five years ago. For example, most managers now make their pitching changes without the aid of an interpreter. Some still prefer an interpreter when sending a player down to the minors or explaining certain technical aspects of a swing, pitching motion or other instruction. ‘If there's something in particular that I need a player to understand and I can't have any confusion, I go through an interpreter with the player and I instruct the interpreter to tell him exactly what I say the way I say it,’ said Rangers manager Ron Washington, who speaks only the most basic Spanish. ESL instructor Carol Gabb helps San Francisco Giants baseball pitching prospect Reimy Rodriguez learn his numbers, in Scottsdale, Ariz. ‘I don't want your interpretation, because the way I would express it is for effect. If you change that effect, you just changed my interpretation.’ Hector Sanchez, the Venezuelan-born catcher for the San Francisco Giants made learning English as much a part of his job as studying his pitchers and their tendencies. He had to be able to speak with the pitchers, so he took classes on the computer via Skype before and after games. ‘It's not just for the position,’ Sanchez said. ‘You're in another country, a different country and this is like a challenge for you, so you have to take the challenge to survive.’ While Sanchez is proving a reliable option as Buster Posey's backup in the Bay Area, the future of the franchise - Latino minor leaguers - sits in classrooms at the team's training complex in Scottsdale, Arizona, taking evening English classes as their empty practice fields are watered outside in the desert heat. The San Francisco Giants is just one of many clubs putting a stronger emphasis on teaching English basics, including training as to writing checks, using a bank account or mailing a letter to young prospects from Latin America . The men walk past World Series logos on the walls as they arrive, a reminder of the team's championships in 2010 and 2012. The lessons include English basics, including training in how to write checks, use a bank account or mail a letter. There's even training on how to conduct a simple telephone call. ‘We didn't have that. We had to learn from scratch,’ said 76-year-old Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda, a Puerto Rican among the first group of Latinos playing baseball in the U.S. ‘(Talking) with the players, that's what I did (to learn).’ Carol Gabb is the lead English instructor for the Giants' minor leaguers. She regularly fist-bumps players throughout a session to celebrate and encourage their progress. During one class this spring, everybody sang Happy Birthday to work on the simple meanings behind the tune. The San Francisco Giants estimate they have helped train 325 Latin players with English skills in the last 15 years, while also providing Spanish training for those seeking to learn . Players, much like school children, laugh, talk out of turn, stretch, kick off their flip flops, curl their toes when reading, make faces, or even smile sheepishly when they answer correctly and are given praise. A few years back, this was Sanchez. And he also carved out time in his busy baseball life to take one-on-one classes. He started the sessions during his first professional season, rookie ball in 2009, but took it to another level in 2012. ‘I get the opportunity to take English classes and I take advantage, and tried to learn every day,’ Sanchez said, his grammar still not perfect but close. ‘That's all about it, getting better, learning. That's how you survive in life.’ Longtime Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy has nicknamed the affable catcher after actor George Clooney, and Sanchez immediately plays along by pulling off his black Giants cap and rubbing his hair - which, while far darker, is almost a spitting image of Clooney's precisely groomed 'do. Carol Gabb is the lead English instructor for the Giants' minor leaguers and she regularly fist-bumps players throughout a session to celebrate and encourage their progress . On another day this spring near the dugout, reliever Santiago Casilla used a mix of English and Spanish to ask Giants athletic trainer Dave Groeschner for medicine to help alleviate a pregame headache. ‘I understand everything but it's a little bit difficult to speak it clearly. It doesn't scare me, but I understand more studying while I listen,’ he said. While Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano is at ease speaking fluent English, the Dominican star regularly can be seen razzing teammates while speaking Spanish a mile a minute. Cano briefly attended high school in New Jersey. ‘I went to school here, so I learned English,’ said Cano, who received a $240 million, 10-year contract to join the Mariners last off-season after nine years with the New York Yankees. ‘But it's hard speaking your second language.’
MLB teams are throwing resources at teaching .
language skills and other day-to-day tasks to new recruit from Latin America .
Training also includes how to write checks, use a bank account or mail a .
letter .
There's even training on how to conduct a simple telephone call .
The idea is that learning English and these other skills will help the players transition to baseball in the U.S.
By . David Mccormack . and Associated  Press Reporter . With baseball players from Latin American dominating the MLB, teams are doing everything they can to ensure that prospective star players can adapt to a new country, culture and most significantly language. Hundreds of young Latin American players around the country are now speaking English with ease, thanks to greater resources devoted to teaching language skills and other day-to-day tasks in American life as part of the transition to baseball in the U.S. All 30 major league teams now have academies in the Dominican Republic, and a handful of organizations run similar operations in Venezuela as well. Hundreds of young Latin American players around the country are now speaking English with ease, thanks to greater resources devoted to teaching language skills and other day-to-day tasks in American life as part of the transition to baseball in the U.S. ‘There's no doubt it's different today than it was a generation ago for these players, with the media coverage, the impact of social media, the coverage, the television, everything,’ San Diego Padres manager Bud Black said. ‘These guys are exposed.’ The San Francisco Giants say they have increased spending by 400 percent over the past decade. ‘It has increased steadily each year as we have added more components to the assimilation program,’ said Alan Lee, Giants Director of Arizona Baseball Operations. The Giants estimate they have helped train 325 Latin players with English skills in the last 15 years, while also providing Spanish training for those seeking to learn. San Francisco Giants baseball prospects Jose Murel and Sandy Perez, right, read beginner English books in class in Scottsdale, Ariz. Roughly 200 players have taken Spanish courses in the past four years. Black and several other managers and GMs say there are fewer issues in which the language barrier causes their jobs to be more challenging than even five years ago. For example, most managers now make their pitching changes without the aid of an interpreter. Some still prefer an interpreter when sending a player down to the minors or explaining certain technical aspects of a swing, pitching motion or other instruction. ‘If there's something in particular that I need a player to understand and I can't have any confusion, I go through an interpreter with the player and I instruct the interpreter to tell him exactly what I say the way I say it,’ said Rangers manager Ron Washington, who speaks only the most basic Spanish. ESL instructor Carol Gabb helps San Francisco Giants baseball pitching prospect Reimy Rodriguez learn his numbers, in Scottsdale, Ariz. ‘I don't want your interpretation, because the way I would express it is for effect. If you change that effect, you just changed my interpretation.’ Hector Sanchez, the Venezuelan-born catcher for the San Francisco Giants made learning English as much a part of his job as studying his pitchers and their tendencies. He had to be able to speak with the pitchers, so he took classes on the computer via Skype before and after games. ‘It's not just for the position,’ Sanchez said. ‘You're in another country, a different country and this is like a challenge for you, so you have to take the challenge to survive.’ While Sanchez is proving a reliable option as Buster Posey's backup in the Bay Area, the future of the franchise - Latino minor leaguers - sits in classrooms at the team's training complex in Scottsdale, Arizona, taking evening English classes as their empty practice fields are watered outside in the desert heat. The San Francisco Giants is just one of many clubs putting a stronger emphasis on teaching English basics, including training as to writing checks, using a bank account or mailing a letter to young prospects from Latin America . The men walk past World Series logos on the walls as they arrive, a reminder of the team's championships in 2010 and 2012. The lessons include English basics, including training in how to write checks, use a bank account or mail a letter. There's even training on how to conduct a simple telephone call. ‘We didn't have that. We had to learn from scratch,’ said 76-year-old Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda, a Puerto Rican among the first group of Latinos playing baseball in the U.S. ‘(Talking) with the players, that's what I did (to learn).’ Carol Gabb is the lead English instructor for the Giants' minor leaguers. She regularly fist-bumps players throughout a session to celebrate and encourage their progress. During one class this spring, everybody sang Happy Birthday to work on the simple meanings behind the tune. The San Francisco Giants estimate they have helped train 325 Latin players with English skills in the last 15 years, while also providing Spanish training for those seeking to learn . Players, much like school children, laugh, talk out of turn, stretch, kick off their flip flops, curl their toes when reading, make faces, or even smile sheepishly when they answer correctly and are given praise. A few years back, this was Sanchez. And he also carved out time in his busy baseball life to take one-on-one classes. He started the sessions during his first professional season, rookie ball in 2009, but took it to another level in 2012. ‘I get the opportunity to take English classes and I take advantage, and tried to learn every day,’ Sanchez said, his grammar still not perfect but close. ‘That's all about it, getting better, learning. That's how you survive in life.’ Longtime Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy has nicknamed the affable catcher after actor George Clooney, and Sanchez immediately plays along by pulling off his black Giants cap and rubbing his hair - which, while far darker, is almost a spitting image of Clooney's precisely groomed 'do. Carol Gabb is the lead English instructor for the Giants' minor leaguers and she regularly fist-bumps players throughout a session to celebrate and encourage their progress . On another day this spring near the dugout, reliever Santiago Casilla used a mix of English and Spanish to ask Giants athletic trainer Dave Groeschner for medicine to help alleviate a pregame headache. ‘I understand everything but it's a little bit difficult to speak it clearly. It doesn't scare me, but I understand more studying while I listen,’ he said. While Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano is at ease speaking fluent English, the Dominican star regularly can be seen razzing teammates while speaking Spanish a mile a minute. Cano briefly attended high school in New Jersey. ‘I went to school here, so I learned English,’ said Cano, who received a $240 million, 10-year contract to join the Mariners last off-season after nine years with the New York Yankees. ‘But it's hard speaking your second language.’
American dominating the MLB, teams are doing skills and other day-to-day tasks in American teaching language skills and other day-to-day to baseball in the U.S. ‘There's no doubt it's to young prospects from Latin America . The men checks, use a bank account or mail a letter. There's even training on how to conduct a simple