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 dont 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 100s of calls from players who attended the camp and didnt 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 didnt 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.
Justin Thompson 2017 Monterey Amberjacks Manager "If a team wants to sign you they arent 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 arent going to CWL for $3500."
Bryan Kloppe 2016 Roswell Invaders Field Manager "If you dont 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 arent 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 dont 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 dont 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 isnt going to get you where you dream to go. I have gotten 100s 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.
